Operation: SOUTH AFRICA
by DarkMike 15
Summary: Sector V is sent to Southern Africa to reattempt an expidition to find a lost city of candy, but with personal turmoil, corrupt operatives and a self destructing KND, will it be so simple? Rated T: Language and violence. 2x5 1x362 3x4 R&R. Chapter 21 up.
1. Moonbase

A/N: Well, gonna attempt to start a multi-chapter fic (again). Fingers crossed.

_(Disclaimer: KND and all its relations are property of Cartoon Network Inc. and Mr. Warburton. The story is property of me.)_

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**now loading….**

**kids next door operation**

**S.O.U.T.H. A.F.R.I.C.A.**

**S**outhern** O**perations** U**tterly** T**ransform **H**oagie and** A**bby.** F**oreign** R**econ** I**s** C**reepily** A**mazing.

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**Chapter 1: Moonbase**

"Numbuhs 1 and 5 of sector V reporting for duty sir," Nigel Uno said as he stood beside Abigail Lincoln in the Supreme commander's office.

The Supreme commander in question, Rachel Mackenzie or, Numbuh 362, stood behind her desk.

"At ease, guys," she said, "and welcome to Moonbase." She gestured for the two to take a seat. As they did, she began, "The reason you two have been called up is of extreme importance. Have either of you heard of the Lost City of the Basuga."

Nigel looked clueless but Abby's face lit up. "Yeah, Numbuh 5's heard of it. Some city buried under some desert, huge treasure too."

"Actually it's the Kalahari Desert which covers most of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa," Rachel said, "allow me to explain:"

"_As the legend goes, the Basuga were a small tribe of African natives that lived on what is now the South African Eastern Cape, when the Dutch settlers arrived, they tried to take the land away from the native people. Many wars broke out over the land, know today as the Frontier Wars and many tribes fought, but others fled. One of these tribes were the Basuga, they fled up country and into the Kalahari Desert led by their chief at the time, Moshoeshug. They wandered through the desert of months, living barley on the little supplies they had. Just when they had lost all hope, they stumbled across an oasis. The Basuga settled around the oasis, and everything was hunky-dory. Then, Moshoeshug started exploring the untouched areas of his new kingdom. What he found was sugarcane, loads of it. Now the Basuga had been known for their taste for the sweeter things in life, so Moshoeshug couldn't help but try the cane, but as he's about to, he apparently sees a vision of his father warning him of the magical properties of this particular cane, which happed to be the sweetest in the world. He said Moshoeshug may use it, but only for the good of his people. Moshoeshug agreed, and his Kingdom grew into a wealthy city as more and more people heard of the indescribable sweets produced from the sugarcane. But as his wealth grew so did his greed. Moshoeshug soon forgot all about his father's warning and began hoarding all the Kingdom's riches for himself. This angered the ancestors, and to punish Moshoeshug, they ordered the desert to open up, and swallow the city, taking its people and treasures with it."_

"And let me guess," Abby said, "you want us to find it."

"Usually something like this wouldn't concern the Kids Next Door," Rachel said reaching into a draw in her desk, "but we are not the only ones looking the Lost City." She handed a file to Nigel who, after looking through it, passed it to Abby.

"Father," Nigel seethed through clenched teeth.

"Yes," Rachel continued once again, "Father wants to use Moshoeshug's treasure to take control of all the worlds' candy, and only god knows what he could do with that kind of power. You and your team need to get to it before he does."

"With all due respect ma'am," Abby said, "I am the only one on this team who has experience with this kind of thing. Sending the whole team in is suicide."

"I realized this," Rachel said picking up another file, "you obviously need help."

She handed the file to Nigel.

"Now, we don't have that many African Kids Next Door sectors, only two, Sector E in Egypt and Sector S in South Africa. The South African Kids Next Door have had experience in he Kalahari; four years ago we attempted this exact mission, but with disastrous results. The whole of Sector S went missing. We had an operations inspector up there for a few months before the mission set out, but sadly she is now unavailable for questioning. We do have all of her reports on file though, you can pick those up from Numbuh 85.3 when you leave."

"That about covers it," Rachel said, "the mission specs will be sent to your Tree House. We expect your departure for South Africa at 06h00 tomorrow."

She turned to Abby.

"Numbuh 5, you are dismissed; I need to have a word with Numbuh 1."

Abby saluted and made her way out. Rachel watched as she did. The door shut.

"May I ask what this is about," Nigel asked is a curious tone, his face not showing any sign of emotion.

"Numbuh 1, did you hear about sector Q," Rachel asked sternly.

Nigel raised an eyebrow. "Yes," he said cautiously, "the entire Sector went traitor. The whole team joined the Teenz."

"Correct," Rachel said, "but under further investigation, Global Command discovered that it wasn't the whole sector that was corrupt, it was just two operatives, Numbuhs 32 and 35, which caused the upset."

"So I heard," Nigel said.

Rachel halted. "Wha...how?" she said, surprised.

"Numbuh 45 got a little drunk at Lime Ricky's, started yelling it out to the world," Nigel shrugged.

Yes, well," Rachel said, "and it's a well known statistic that, in every sector there is at least one corrupt operative."

Nigel began to look nervous.

"I'm sorry," he said, "but what has this got to do with me?"

"I'm getting to that," Rachel said, noticing his change in confidence, "Nigel, do you trust your team?"

"With my life and childhood," Nigel said without hesitation.

"Very heroic, Numbuh 1," Rachel said rolling her eyes, "but, still, we have been keeping an eye on Numbuh 2 and Numbuh 5, Numbuhs 41 and 43 have done an extensive investigation, and the both of them have been up to something, something out of KND regulation."

She looked at Nigel. All confidence had evaporated.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about this, would you?"

"N-no n-n….," Nigel stammered but then forced himself to calm down, "no not at all."

Rachel frowned and walked over to her desk, tapping a command into her computer. A disembodied voice sounded:

'_**Office surveillance deactivated'**_

She turned back to Nigel.

"Listen, Nigel," Rachel said, "if something is going on, and you know about it, you have to tell me. If proof that any members of your sector are involved in corrupt activities is found, they are liable for immediate decommissioning, and if it is found that you were aware of these activities, you are liable for the same punishment. You still have a long run with KND; don't let something like this wreak it."

"I am well aware of the consequences," Nigel said sighing, "and, if there was anything going on you'd be the first person I'd tell."

Rachel reached out to touch his cheek, but as she did the door swung open and Numbuh 63.5 burst in.

"Sir, I have sector W on line one, it sounds urgent."

Nigel quickly grabbed her hand and shook it.

"Understood sir," he said professionally, "I will see to it right away."

"Yes," Rachel said, looking hurt, "Ok, Herby, put them through."

Numbuh 63.5 saluted and left the room followed by Nigel.

Rachel wiped a tear away from her eye and picked up her desk phone.

* * *

Inside the SCAMPER, Hoagie Gilligan Jr., or Numbuh 2, and Abby were talking softly. Hoagie was much, _much _thinner after his parents had sent him to the Loosapound Fat Camp. He sat in the pilot's seat while Abby leaned against the control panel.

"It's just as I thought," Abby was saying, "They've had Numbuh 41 and 43 on us."

"Shit," Hoagie said.

'We're gonna have to hack into the KND mainframe and erase Numbuh 43's report," Abby said and then smiled at Hoagie, "think you can do that?"

"Oh please," Hoagie snorted grinning back.

Suddenly Nigel was in the doorway. He looked at them both with a curious stare.

"So what was that all about?" Hoagie asked cheerfully. It was an act, he actually wanted to break Nigel's nose.

Nigel's face brightened.

"Nah, nothing important," Nigel said, "she needed some help with a call from sector W."

Abby remained silent. Nigel made his way to the chair in the center of the craft and sat down.

"Right," he said, "Numbuh 2, take us home."

The craft roared to life and lifted off the docking bay floor, before gliding into space and making the slow journey back to earth.

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OK I just know I stuffed that chapter up, but stay tuned it'll get better. (Hopefully)

REVIEW!!!!!! For every person who doesn't I put a teddy through a shredder.

**Dark**Mike


	2. Secret Meetings

A/N: Yes! Chapter 2, so far so good. I'd just like to point out that this takes place After GIRLFRIEND, CARAMEL and all of that but before TREATY, basically in this universe TREATY and I guess INTERVEIWS, what ever the hell that is will never happen.

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**Chapter 2: Secret Meetings**

The SCAMPER slowly docked at the sector V treehouse. Abby, Hoagie and Nigel stepped off the craft, greeted by Kuki Sanban, Numbuh 3, and Wally Beatles, Numbuh 4.

"So," Kuki said, "how was Moonbase?"

"Yeah," Wally said, "whot ye go up there for anyway?"

"We have a new mission," Nigel said, "Numbuh 5 will brief you all, and I expect mission prep by 06h00."

The afternoon eased by slowly. After briefing, mission prep started, everyone went about their way doing what they had to before departure. Hoagie was typing up the false notes to the parents; Abby was with him going over some files on sector S; Nigel was helping Wally and Kuki load supplies into the transport ship. They worked silently, but Nigel wasn't complaining, he a lot of thinking to do. What he hadn't told Rachel earlier is that he did know what was going on, but didn't know what. Abby and Hoagie had been spending most of their time together either in the others room or out 'doing stuff'. They had been friends before but never this close. He had a feeling that they were doing something out of regulation, and his trip to Moonbase had proved his suspicions. He then thought Rachel, something he had been doing of lately. His thoughts brought him to how he grabbed her hand the way he did when Numbuh 63.5 burst in. He sighed.

"_I'd better go up there and apologize,"_ he thought.

"So whot do ya think is going on with Abby and Hoagie," Wally said, breaking the silence and Nigel's thoughts, "is it just me or have they been spending a lot of time together."

"I don't know," Kuki said, then her face lit up, "Oh my gosh, you think maybe they're, y'know, an item?"

"Don't be ridicules, Numbuh 3," Nigel said, "those kind of relationships between operatives are forbidden, they both know that."

Nigel couldn't help feel guilty as he said that.

Kuki sighed. "Forbidden love," she said, "how romantic."

"I highly doubt it," Nigel said.

Wally just rolled his eyes. Silence returned.

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Evening came. In Hoagie's room Abby was packing the last of his things into a box. Hoagie was shutting down his computer.

"Your stuff packed," he asked Abby.

She gave him a look.

"Alright, alright," Hoagie said raising his arms in defense, "I'm sorry, of course you did."

Abby smiled for a moment, but it slowly faded.

"What?" Hoagie asked.

"There's no turning back now is there?" she said.

Hoagie shook his head.

"I've made the arrangements," he said, "everything is set up, why?"

"There are times when this seems like the only thing to do," Abby said slowly, "but at other times it just seems so wrong."

Hoagie slung his backpack over his shoulder.

"It is wrong," he said.

They moved the boxes to the entrance of the hanger. They then moved the boxes in Abby's room to her balcony.

"I'll pick these up later," Hoagie said, "let's bail."

Nigel caught them on their way out.

"Where are you two going?" he asked.

"Home," Abby said.

"We have a mission first thing tomorrow," Nigel said, "don't you think it'd be smarter to stay here the night?"

"Nah, I got dinner with the folks," Abby said.

"Yeah, and my mom says I gotta grow up and stop sleeping this treehouse every night," Hoagie shrugged.

"No worries boss," Abby said smiling, "we'll be here bright 'n early."

Nigel watched them leave. Hoagie and Abby started making their way down the street.

"Did your mom really say that?" Abby asked.

"No," Hoagie said flatly, "I did."

* * *

Nigel watched them until they were out of site. He walked into the TV room to see Wally sitting on the couch with Kuki fast asleep on his shoulder. He turned and looked at Nigel giving him a big thumbs-up. Nigel chucked and shook his head.

"Going to bed," he mouthed.

Wally gave him another thumbs-up. Nigel made his way to his room and once inside locked his door. He had a quick shower and threw some clothes on. He then climbed to the window and jumped. Be began freefalling down the side of the treehouse, and just as the ground rushed up to meet him he clicked his heels twice. Two rockets in the bottom of his shoes roared to life, propelling him away from the ground and around the treehouse. He landed lightly on the hanger entrance. Rushing over to the SCAMPER, he saw the boxes piled up on the floor, but didn't give it a second thought. He started the SCAMPER and kicked into first gear, sending the craft rocketing into the night sky.

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A few blocks down Abby and Hoagie arrived at the Gilligan household. Hoagie opened the door and led Abby inside. They were greeted by Mrs. Gilligan.

"Oh, Hoagie, you're home. Hi Abby," she said, "I thought you were staying the treehouse tonight."

"Nope, thought we'd grace you and 'The Tommy' with my presence," Hoagie said grinning.

Abby giggled.

"Yes well don't grace us too much," Mrs. Gilligan said smiling, "will Abby be staying for dinner?"

"Yeah," Hoagie said, "we got some things to do."

Abby turned to close the door and as she did, saw the SCAMPER blast off from the dark silhouette of the treehouse. She closed the door and turned to Hoagie.

"Hey," she said, "who'd you lend the SCAMPER to?"

"No-one," Hoagie said turning around.

"But I just saw it blast off from the tree house," Abby said, gesturing over her shoulder with her thumb.

"That's impossible," Hoagie said, digging into his pocket, "the keys are……..not here."

"Nigel?"

Hoagie shrugged.

After dinner, they made their way upstairs into Hoagie's room. Abby made herself comfortable on the bed, while Hoagie started his computer. He logged onto the Kids Next Door main server, but was greeted by a message flashing on the screen:

**ERROR:Code654**

**Operativeunderinvestigation**

**ACSESSDENIED**

"Shit," Hoagie cursed.

Abby looked up from her magazine. "What?"

"They've set up a block," he said, "I'm gonna have to hack through manually."

It took about half an hour but finally….

"I'm in!"

"Finally," Abby said getting up from the bed.

Hoagie opened acsessed the KND file archive and located Numbuh 43's report. He opened it and they both read through it silently.

* * *

**File name: 44563654**

**Location: File Archive, Moonbase, Sector 93a**

**Status: Urgent**

**27/05/07**

**Over the last month, myself and Numbuh 41 have done an extensive investigation on the activities of Numbuhs 2 and 5 of sector V. Over this time we have witnessed and recorded exactly 67 acts in violation of KND regulation (see file attachment), ranging from meetings with known Teenz agents to making unauthorized cross-continental trips. My own personal opinion is that the two plan to try something at their upcoming decommissioning. Caution is advised at the two are suspected of purchasing illegal weapons.**

**Recommended action: ****IMMEDIDIATE DECOMMISSIONING

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**

Hoagie and Abby sat in silence, those two words engulfing them.

"Look at the date," Abby said, "this report was posted more than a week ago, why haven't they come for us. Check the viewing log."

Hoagie's fingers glided over the keyboard. The log appeared on screen:

**VEIWING LOG FOR FILE #44563654:**

**28/05/07/18:03 – ****VEIW****: Operative 362 (SC)**

**28/05/07/18:42 – ****LOCK****: Authorized personal only**

** SET BY: Operative 362 (SC)**

"She blocked it," Hoagie said, dumbfounded, "but why?"

The two just sat in silence once again, wondering if there plan was going to work out after all.

* * *

384,400 km above them, the SCAMPER docked at Moonbase. Nigel stepped off and slowly made his way through the deserted hallways. As the Moonbase was run by the North American Kids Next Door, most of the operatives had returned home or to their sectors. Only people Nigel saw where the occasional janitor or someone locking their office and heading for the docking bay. Inside her own office Rachel was busy reading over yet another mission report. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock on her desk. 23:26, it was getting late. She looked at the paperwork spread over her desk and sighed.

"_Screw it,"_she thought, and started gathering her things to leave.

A loud knock on her office door startled her.

"Come in," she said reluctantly.

Nigel's head poked in.

"Thought I'd find you here,' he said grinning, "you work too hard."

"Are you up here for anything important, because if not, it's late and I'd like to get home," Rachel said, regretting every word that came out of her mouth.

"Right," Nigel said, the grin disappearing, "I deserved that. That's what I'm up here for, I am so…."

"Sorry, yes Nigel, I know," Rachel said, "but that's what you said last time, and the time before that and every time you say it….."

She broke off and turned away to hide her tearing eyes.

"I'm just so sick of being the office secret," Rachel said softly.

She turned to leave, but walked right into Nigel's arms. She couldn't hold back the tears any longer. She cried into his chest. Nigel cupped Rachel's face in his hands and brought it level with his. He wiped the tears the tears from her eyes with his thumbs and looked deep into her eyes.

"You matter more to me than anything else," he said softly, "this mission could get dangerous, even life threatening, and if I do come back, I want to come back to you."

Rachel melted. He then leaned forward and kissed her.

384,400 km below, Abby and Hoagie smiled at each other as they watched the security cam feed of the events taking place.

"Got ya, boss," Abby said.

Looks like their plans would go as planned after all.

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R&R people. Remember the teddies.

**Dark**Mike


	3. Arrivel

**Hey peoples, sooooooo sorry I took so long to review, but I just started school again, and we all know what a living hell that is. This is just a heads up to all those who have reviewed so far, especially to those who contributed the most important thing of all; constructive criticism. K, with that said read on and keep reviewing.**

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**Chapter 3: Arrival**

_Somewhere in southern Africa_

"This better be important, Harrison," Father's voice boomed throughout the lair.

"Yes, sir, it is," Sam Harrison said, quivering. The 43 year old man had been working for Father for a few months now, but Sam was still petrified by his boss, "it's about the rover scout we sent into the cave, we lost it."

Father stopped dead in his tracks. It seemed he was about to say, or yell, something, but decided against it. He continued walking.

"And?" he said.

"Well, we got some pretty weird video feed from it just before we lost it," Harrison continued, "I just thought you might want to see it."

Father grunted in agreement. They entered the control room and Harrison, stationed at his computer, played the clip through the overhead projector onto the far wall. The clip showed the rover slowly making its way into a large cavern.

"This cavern is about 30 ft under the entry point," Harrison explained, "we believe we've found the entrance to the city."

The rover rotated its camera 360°, and as it did, it fixated on a very large door. The rover slowly made its way toward the door. Suddenly the door was blocked from sight by a large shape. The shape lunged at the rover and the screen went to static.

"So," Father said expectantly, "what the hell was that?"

"We, uh, don't know sir," Harrison said, "by the way it moved we can assume it's some kind of big cat, but it's far too big to be a lion or leopard."

"It seems that there is more to this than I expected," Father said, stroking his chin.

There was a knock on the door and a guard stepped in.

"Sir, there's someone waiting to see you," he said saluting, "she's, um, in your study."

"What? Who let her in here?" Father demanded.

"She kind of let herself in, sir," the guard said sighing.

"I'll be there momentarily," Father said, he turned back to the control room staff, "I want that image enhanced. Get every nerd on it, I don't care what you do, just get it done."

He turned and left the room, cursing under his breath. What's a guy gotta do to keep people out of his evil lair? He made his way to his study. Inside the room was lit solely by the fireplace, Father's personal preference. His visitor was sitting in the chair in front of his desk.

"Ah, Father," she said without turning around, "I hope I haff not intruded."

Father smiled and sat behind his desk.

"No not at all," he said, "but you could have made an appointment, and saved my guards some trouble."

The girl chuckled. "Now where's the fun in zat."

"You look different somehow, but I just can't put my finger on it," Father said sarcastically.

"Yes," the girl said, "I finally got zat little problem of mein sorted out."

"So I heard," Father said, "I also heard you were reformed."

"I vas, but being bad is so much more fun, zat is vhy I am here, I heard you were setting out an expedition?"

"Yes I am," Father said, "the lost city of the Basuga."

The girl nodded, "Many haff tried to find it, all haff failed, but I could find it for you."

Father smiled again, "How do I know you won't just keep the treasure for yourself?"

"You need a team, I need a paycheck, I guess you are just going to haff to trust me."

Father was silent for a moment. The he stood up and shook the girl's hand.

"You've got a deal, Heinrich," he said.

The girl shook back, "Actually, it's Henrietta."

_Tree-House, Sector V_

Nigel sighed as the alarm clock next to his bed roared to life.

"Go time," he said to himself.

He got up and looked out the window; the horizon was fringed with orange and yellow as the first light of the day seeped into the sky. He cast his gaze downward towards the street. Abby and Hoagie we're making their way up the side-walk, chatting. Nigel nodded his head in approval.

"Not bad," he said as he turned away from the window and headed toward the bathroom to take a shower.

Hoagie looked up at the tree-house to see Nigel step away from his bedroom window.

"He was watching us again," Hoagie said gruffly.

Abby sighed, "Its okay, a week from now he'll be out of our lives for good."

The two joined the rest of the groggy sector V in the hanger bay.

"Good morning, Sunshines!!" Kuki squealed as Hoagie and Abby walked in.

"Did you guys sleep well?" Nigel asked eyeing them.

"Barley," Abby said rubbing her eyes, "but you're one to speak, you look terrible."

"I was up looking into sector S," Nigel sighed, half-lying, "this is going to be a little more difficult than we thought."

"But I thought you said you we're packing it in early?" Wally said, confused.

"I changed my mind," Nigel said, "anyway there was a small ship hanging around the Tree-House last night."

He looked at Hoagie and raised an eyebrow, "Know anything about that?"

"I saw the S.A.M.P.E.R. go orbital last night," Hoagie sneered, "know anything about that?"

That shut Nigel up. They loaded their luggage into the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. and piled in. Hoagie started the engine and the craft glided out the hanger.

Silence held the five operatives in an iron grip. Nigel sat in his chair in the center of the craft, deep in thought, Hoagie was in the pilots' seat, Abby sat up front with him staring into space, Wally sat at his post staring at Kuki, Kuki was looking out the window humming the Rainbow Monkey theme song.

"There's my house!!" She called,"Oh, and there's Wally's house, and Abby's, and….hey Numbuh 2, did your mom get a new car?"

"No," Hoagie said , without turning around.

"So whose car is that?" Kuki asked.

"My dad's," Hoagie said in a low voice.

"But it can't be, silly" Kuki said, all the while receiving signal's from her teammates to shut-up, "your dad left when you were 8 to run off with another…….."

She was cut off by Wally's hand covering her mouth. Hoagie's cellphone began to ring. After a while it went onto loudspeaker voice mail.

"Hoagie?!!" they all heard, "was that you who just flew over? You better get yer ass home you little piece of shit, or I'm gonna…."

Hoagie cut the call off. He turned around and smiled at everyone.

"Must have been the wrong number," he shrugged.

Only Abby saw the face that replaced that smile, that dark permanent gaze that had replaced his usually cheerful, but corny, smile. But it was a look she was starting to get used to, it was a look she feared might not go away.

_3 hours later_

The sea finally gave way beneath the ship as the African continent expanded all around them. They passed over a large city nestled on the foot of a rather peculiar mountain.

"Direction's say that's Table Mountain," Hoagie said, "called so because of its flat top. This is where we're supposed to meet Sector S."

As the S.A.M.P.E.R. lowered towards the mountain, a scene of terror opened up. Below five operatives aged 10-12, crouched behind a clump of rocks while six teenagers fired heavily at them. Every now and then one of them got the courage to stand and fire back at the teens, only to be chased back by the hellish return fire. Two of the operatives, a tall African 12 year old boy and a fiery 11 year old redheaded girl, stood again and made a feeble attempt to take out at least one of the teens. The boy let out a yell as an enemy shot ripped into his upper arm. He fell back to cover clutching his gaping wound.

"I cannot believe we're going through this for a bunch Americans," another operative yelled, this time a 12 year old, tallish, brown haired boy, "we don't even know them!!"

"Hewena, we're here aren't we?" a second 11 year old girl said in a thick African accent, she looked over at the Teens, "but it would help if they sped it up."

A third 10 year old girl, her skin tone some where between black and white, was tending to the wound of her fallen teammate she looked up to see the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. slowly lowering towards them.

"They're here!!" she called.

"About freakin' time," the brown haired boy said.

The teenagers, thinking they had won, were shocked by the sudden appearance of the ship. They desperately directed their fire to the S.C.A.M.P.E.R., hoping to achieve some result. They failed as the ship's cannons returned fire. The teenagers still standing fled. The S.C.A.M.P.E.R. touched down and sector V filed out.

"Good morning, Sector S," Nigel stated, "we are Sector V of the American Kids Next Door, we understand you expecting us."

"Understatement of the day," the brown haired boy muttered.

"Who, may I ask is your sector leader?" Nigel said, giving the boy a look.

"I am," the wounded operative said, also thick in accent, "you caught us at a bad time."

"Holey shit!!" Hoagie exclaimed from behind them, he was studying the S.C.A.M.P.E.R., "are these real bullets!?!"

The redhead chuckled.

"Welcome to South Africa."

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**How many Teddies do you want on your conscience? Review, I aint gonna beg.**


	4. Not So Welcome

**New Chappie **_**finally**_** up. Sorry it took so long guys.**

**Chapter 4: Not So Welcome**

_Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa_

The S.C.A.M.P.E.R, loaded with sector V, and the South African……

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Kids Next Door:

R.A.P.T.E.R.

R enovated

A ircraft

P erminently

T erminates

E nemy

R etrievals

……lifted off the battle scarred mountain top.

"Okay, sector V," the brown haired boy's voice came over the radio, "just follow me."

The South African's ship took off inland, flying low over the large amount of flat, land that opened up behind the mountains. Buildings of all shape and sizes and large highways, most of them clogged by traffic, spread out over the area.

"I'm confused," Wally said looking out the window, "are you sure we're in Africa?"

"Why wouldn't we be?" Kuki asked."

"There's buildings and cars and stuff, and I have not seen one elephant _or_ lion yet," he said waving his arms about, "plus that guy and that girl with the red hair are, well, _white_!!!!"

Nigel sighed, Abby shook her head and Hoagie just ignored him.

"South Africa is not a safari park," Kuki said, "It is a large and thriving industrial and agricultural country. It was ruled by racism and oppression, under a form of government known as the Apartheid (pronounced _Apart-hate_) which classed people by their skin colour, but in 1994 the country had it's first democratic elections where Nelson Mandela was elected as the country's first black president and ever since, South Africa has been an example too everyone that the colour of one's skin is not a boundary to separate the community, anyway South Africa was founded by the Dutch, who are white."

Everyone just looked at her.

"Kuki," Wally said, now even more confused, "is that you?"

"What?" Kuki said, "I did a project on the country for school."

While sector V contemplated what was wrong with Kuki, inside the R.A.P.T.E.R, sector S sat in complete silence.

The brown haired bow sat in the pilot's seat, the red-head positioned at radar. The African girl sat at weapons control, with the sector leader sat in the center of the craft, his eyes closed, seemingly asleep. The coloured girl (half black, half white) still tended to the boy's wound.

The red-head looked out the window.

"Whoa," she said breaking the silence, "better gain some altitude, were about to fly over Dozi's place."

The brown haired boy grinned, "That gives me an idea."

"Sector V come in," he called over the radio, "we are about to enter a bit of a danger zone, I need you guys to drop to about 65ft so we can scan the area for enemy ships."

Hoagie received the transmission and looked questioningly at Nigel.

"Better do as they say," Nigel said surly.

Hoagie shrugged and picked up the radio: "Roger that, Sector S, dropping to 65ft."

Below them, 19 year old Mandozi "Dozi" Bukilela sat outside his small shack like home. He didn't like the area, too many lightys, but that was what made it a perfect hide out for the kind of business he did, and boy was business good. If things continued going the way they had been going for the last year, in five years time he'd be able to retire and buy a nice place out in Stellenbosh or something. His thoughts were interrupted by the roar of three jet engines.

"Kids Next Door," he spat, looking up.

The only thorn in his side, he had moved in on their business and they had made things rather difficult for him since. The most recent being when they trash three of his "shops" in Ocean View. He picked up his cell phone. The person to receive his call was Wayden Fordon. The coloured 16 year old had been working for Dozi for two years know and knew his boss all to well.

"KND," he said, before his boss could say anything, "I know what to do."

He whistled to two of his friends and pointed up. Joss Richards and Kalmer Jenkins also had been working for Dozi for about two years. Both were high school drop-outs and heavily addicted to drugs, and neither had a positive outlook on life. Seeing the approaching craft, they ran to their bikes, climbed on and began to ride. The three twisted their right handle bar. Armor began to spread over the bikes, encasing the three teens. A set of wings emerged from the sides of each of the bikes followed by a jet engine from the rear. A standard issue Teenz bike. It's not that the boys were Teenz Agents or anything, but in Dozi's line of work, let's just say that you come across some interesting hardware. The bikes took off and rocketed towards the S.C.A.M.P.E.R.

"We got two bogies, 6 'o clock!!" Abby called in alarm, her words greeted with the thunder of enemy fire to the rear of the ship.

"Buckle up, boys and girls," Hoagie shouted as he yanked at the throttle, "this is gonna get rough!!"

The S.C.A.M.P.E.R. jeered left as Hoagie made a sharp turn. The bikes followed, continuing to fire at the craft whenever possible. Hoagie turned again, the bikes stayed on them. He tried again, but with no prevail. He turned once more, Kalmer and Wayden following, but Joss, distracted by a flock of birds, was unable to turn. Hoagie headed straight for him opening fire. Joss, suddenly realizing what was going on, quickly pulled up, the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. and its blast passing beneath him. He rejoined his friends in the pursuit. Hoagie, frustrated by the failure of his attempt to lose at least one of his pursuers, suddenly shot up, rocketing past the R.A.P.T.E.R, with the bikes still following. He rose to about 1000ft, before putting the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. into a dive rushing past the bikes, who fired and missed. They too reached 1000ft and dived, following the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. It dropped to 100ft and shot up again, passing the bikes once more, but this time Hoagie fired, hitting Kalmer and blowing part of his armor off. The bike veered to the right a bit, but pulled up with the other two and followed Sector V up again. Hoagie dived again, and the bikes fired again, and missed again, but this time Hoagie pulled up and didn't fire, he just kept going up. The bikes attempted to follow the S.C.A.M.P.E.R's sudden incline, but their bikes' engines were not as strong as the duel rockets of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. At 1500ft, they began to stall and were forced to pull back. This was the break Hoagie had been waiting for. He quickly spun the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. back into a dive, now chasing the bikes. He opened heavy fire, hitting Kalmer again, this time, his engine going up in flames. The jet fuel powering the bike ignited, sending the bike, and Kalmer, falling to the ground in small, flaming pieces. But the other two stayed on sector V.

"Persistent little buggers…" Hoagie muttered to himself.

He took the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. into yet another dive, heading straight for the busy highway below, the two bikes still hot on his tail. He looked as if he was going to take the S.C.A.M.P.E.R into the traffic, but, with the ground just a few feet below, he pulled up, passing the stunned teens. Wayden realized what was happening and pulled up too, but the same could not be said for Joss, who plummeted into a passing mini-bus taxi. Wayden, seemly unfazed by his friends' demise, rocketed on.

Inside the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. sector V let out a cheer, thinking they had taken out both bikes. Silently, Wayden snuck up behind the craft.

"What the hell was that all about?" Nigel demanded over the radio, "I thought you said we were leaving the danger zone, not flying……."

He was cut short by the roar of Wayden's cannons to the rear of the ship.

This transmission caused a stir in the R.A.P.T.E.R, the leader woke, he had been sleeping.

"What's going on?" he demanded, hearing sector V's anxious transmission, "Where are we?"

"Over quadrant T, sir," the brown haired boy said.

"In English," the African boy said, irritably.

"Tokai, sir," the red-headed girl put in.

The leader looked thoughtful, and then a look of realization struck his face.

"Where is sector V?" he asked, his voice fringed with panic.

"At 65ft sir, I sent them down so I could scan the area for enemy ships," the brown hair boy said.

"Scan the area for….." the leader said in disbelief, running for the window. Below them he saw, the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. swerving left and right, being battered by the fire from a Teenz bike.

"Is that one of Dozi's bikes?" he demanded.

"Maybe," the brown haired boy said sheepishly.

"Open full fire on it now," the leader commanded, "get this ship into position."

"But boss….." the boy complained.

"I said now," the African boy said, clenching his teeth.

Reluctantly, the R.A.P.T.E.R. was turned towards the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. The African girl targeted the bike and opened fire.

Wayden figured he had them done for, he could see the fuselage of their ship begging to give way. A few more seconds, and this heap of scrap would be falling to the ground in lots of little pieces. He glanced at his rearview mirror to see the R.A.P.T.E.R. directing itself to point at him. Knowing what was coming, he flung the cockpit of the bike open and jumped out, landing on the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. His bike blowing to pieces behind him. He ran down the length of craft and dived off the front. He turned, to look into the S.C.A.M.P.E.R's cockpit. For a moment, his and the impressive American pilot's eyes met. He gave an approving nod, and the American retuned the gesture. He then turned away and began to freefall, pulling a small box out of his pocket. He pressed a small button on the top, and he was gone.

_Father's Lair, somewhere in southern Africa_

"Report, Harrison," Father said sharply from behind his desk, his back to his assistant.

"W-well sir," Harrison stammered, "I have some good news and some bad news, which would you like first?"

"Just get on with it," Father said impatiently.

"S-sorry sir, I-I'll start with the good news then," Harrison stammered fearfully, "the expedition team's preparations are ahead of schedule, they will be able to set out by next Friday."

Father let out a grunt of approval.

"A-and the bad news," Harrison said, "It's your nephew, sir. He and his team arrived in Cape Town this morning."

Father spun around.

"WHAT!?!" he shouted, his body bursting into flames.

"They took down Bukilela's Bikes," Harrison continued, shielding his face with his clipboard, "two of his boys were shot down over Tokai, they're in hospital but I don't think they'll make it."

"What about Agent 9?" Father asked, starting to calm down.

"He made it back, sir," Harrison said lowering his clipboard.

"And his condition?" Father continued to enquire as he sat back down, the flames extinguished.

"Good, sir," Harrison said, "no injuries whatsoever."

Father nodded.

"Excellent," he said, "I want him on the expedition team,"

"Right away, sir" Harrison said nodding, "but what about the Kids Next Door?"

Father sat in silence for a moment. Then he smiled.

"I wouldn't worry too much," he said, the grin growing wider, "we have a head start; we are too far into Project Lost for them to slow us down. They can't stop me this time."

**Just gotta say something quickly, I don't mean to sound racist or nothin', referring to characters by the colour of their skin, It's just down here in SA that's how we do things. I'm not sure how it's done in the rest of the world, but in SA, every form you fill in that asks for personal information, you have to state your race. Any-hoo, the next chapter will give Sector S some names, so this little bit probably wasn't necessary. **

**Alright guys with that said, REVIEW!!!!!! I now have full rights to put teddies through shredders. **

**Thanks**

**Dark**Mike


	5. To Our Freedom

**HA!!! Weren't expecting a nother update so soon, were ya? Right his is heads up; you are about to get to know Sector S, this chapter is therefore may include some South African slang. I'll do my best to give you guys pronunciations, but it's a bit hard. Anyway, if you want to get a grip on the different South African accents, hit YouTube. Also when I refer to a '**_**coloured',**_** I mean half-black-half-white if you know what I mean, think Tiger Woods.**

* * *

**Chapter 5: To Our Freedom**

_Somewhere near Cape Point, Cape Town, South Africa_

The two KND ships rocketed on, heading further away from the city. They flew towards a small mountain range, with a large bay to the left. They passed over the first mountain to see a small area of houses and buildings nestled in between it and a second mountain. At the foot of the small oasis of civilization was a large harbor, filled with yachts and fishing trawlers coming in and out. They passed over the next mountain as a large valley opened up beneath them. A large town filled the valley, bustling with activity. A golden beach lined the barrier between town and ocean. They rocketed over a third mountain, this time, the R.A.P.T.E.R. dipping in. This valley was split in half by a large wetland, with a residential area on either side. On the left side, on top of the mountain, a tree-house emerged. It carried the characteristics of most KND tree-houses, except for one thing; it wasn't supported by a tree, but a large stalk of shrubs packed very tightly together. The two KND ships soared over to it, and docked.

As sector V filed out of their transport, they couldn't help but stare at their peculiar surroundings. The inside of the tree-house was as much of an oddity as the outside. Instead of being made from purely wood, the walls and structure of the building was brick and metal. Sector S waited outside their own ship.

"As yes," the leader said smiling, "I understand the American tree-houses are of wood? That would never work around here my friends, not in Cape Town's wind."

He smiled and looked around, "Our HQ is supported by fynbos (pronounced _fane-baws_), the cape's major plant family, as trees are not very common on these mountains."

He took a brief pause, before a look of realization struck his face.

"Oh, but how rude of me," he exclaimed, "an introduction is well overdue, I am Vuyani Mekelene or Numbuh 664, leader of Sector S"

Vuyani pointed to the red-head. "This is Michelle Kruger," he said, "Numbuh 663, my second in command."

He pointed to the brown haired boy, "Dean Jacobe, Numbuh 662, our pilot and 2x4 officer."

He pointed to the African girl, "Sibinzele Kakugle, Numbuh 661, tactical director and sharpshooter."

He then pointed to the coloured girl, "And this is Tasmin Christians, Numbuh 660, our medic."

"And don't worry about an intro," Dean said, rolling his eyes, "we know who you are."

"Enough, Numbuh 662," Vuyani said, "You are in deep trouble as it is. Your antics out their today could have gotten sector V killed."

"Oh c'mon, boss," Dean protested, "I didn't mean to…"

"Enough!" Vuyani silenced him, "your punishment will be decided at a later point, but for now, everyone return to your quarters. We will regroup for a meeting at 17h00. Numbuh 663, organize sleeping arrangements for our guests, clear?"

"Sir!" Sector S replied in unison.

"Come, Numbuh 1," Vuyani said smiling, "we have much to talk about."

As the two leaders exited the docking bay, Michelle gathered the remaining operatives.

"Right," she said, "does anyone have any special requests regarding sleeping arrangements?"

They all remained silent.

"Anyone?" Michelle enquired again, "ok fine, I have the biggest room so Numbuh 2 and Numbuh 5 will stay with me, Numbuh 4 will stay with Numbuh 662 and Numbuh 3 will bunk with Numbuh 660, is everyone cool with that?"

"What about Numbuh 661?" Kuki asked, "Won't she get lonely."

Sibenzele clicked her tongue.

"Me? Lonely?" she scoffed, her thick African accent slicing into her words, "I'm not going to be missing your company if that's what you're thinking."

She stalked off into a passage.

"C'mon," Tasmin said, pulling at Kuki's arm, "My room is this way. Hey, do you like Rainbow Monkeys?"

"Do I!!" Kuki squealed as they led down another corridor.

"Aw great," Wally whined, "another Rainbow Monkey fanatic."

"Tell me about it," Dean said shaking his head, "grab your stuff dude, my room's this way."

Michelle chuckled as everyone departed.

"Seems like everyone's settled," she said turning to Abby and Hoagie, "I guess I should show you were my room is. I have so many questions for you guys!"

_A balcony somewhere on the Sector S tree-house_

Nigel breathed in deeply, allowing the fresh, salty air to fill his lungs. The sun was just beginning to set, the sky turning from the brilliant blue of day into the soft orange of evening.

"I'm impressed by how you run your team, Numbuh 664" Nigel said to Vuyani, who was standing next to him.

"Yes, I feel it is important for there to be a level of respect," Vuyani said smiling, "they need to understand who is in charge."

"I wish I could get my team to work that way," Nigel said rolling his eyes, "I seems like I have no control anymore."

"Ah yes," the African boy smirked, "rebellion, the first sign of adolescence, I fear it is creeping into my own team."

"Adolescence?" Nigel gasped, taken back by the comment.

Vuyani chuckled.

"How old are the members of your team, Numbuh 1?" he asked, a smile still spread widely across his face.

"Hoagie and…erm, I mean, Numbuh 2 and 5 turned twelve in January, and Wally and Kuki are turning twelve later this year."

"See, you have even begun to call them by their first names and not their codenames," Vuyani said with another chuckle, he then sighed, "we all have to grow up some day Nigel, no matter how long you put it off."

Silence returned as the two leaders looked out over the mountain.

"This mission is going to be though," Vuyani said is a serious tone, "I hope your team is prepared."

"I think you'll find my team is ready for anything," Nigel beamed, "we've taken on tougher."

"No," Vuyani said in the same tone, "I don't think you have."

Nigel looked at the boy with confusion.

"The desert is a harsh and merciless landscape, filled with danger," Vuyani continued, "and that is before we even enter the city."

"What do you know about the Lost City?" Nigel asked.

"All I know is many a man, teen and child have gone looking for it, and none have returned."

"That's encouraging," Nigel said, sighing.

The smile returned Vuyani's face.

"I would not worry," he said, "I know what my team is capable of, and if you team is as tough as you say it is, we should have no complications."

Nigel just laughed.

"Let's hope not."

He looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Numbuh 664," he finally said, "I mush just warn you, members of my team, while loyal, are suspected of activities out of KND regulation."

"I was going to warn you too," Vuyani said, a look of concern spreading over his face, "members of my own team are being suspected of the same. I recently found that there is a whole side of the South African Kids Next Door I was not aware about. We had to put their investigation on hold when this mission aroused."

"Traitorous?" Nigel asked.

"No, I do not think so," Vuyani said, "Corrupt."

"Meaning?..."

"They do whatever it takes to get the job done," Vuyani said darkly, "_Whatever_ it takes."

Nigel couldn't help the shiver that ran down his spine.

They looked out toward the sea again; a single naval ship was making its way back into the Simon's Town Naval Base returning from a training exercise. Nigel sighed again, mentally preparing himself, having no idea of the nightmare about to begin.

_Room 5, Sector S_

Abby and Hoagie were let through a series of passages leading to Michelle's room. All the while they chatted and laughed, discussing the group dynamics of their separate teams.

"Yeah, Numbuh 4 has _the_ biggest crush on Numbuh 3," Hoagie said grinning.

"And Numbuh 3 has a _huge_ crush on Numbuh 4," Abby filled in also grinning.

"And yet they just don't notice it, right?" Michelle said giggling.

"That's exactly it!" Abby exclaimed, "The indications are staring them in the face, but they just can't pick it up. It drives Abby crazy!"

Michelle laughed out loud.

"So who's Sector S's aspiring couple?" Hoagie asked.

The grin disappeared from Michelle's face.

"Well…y'know…..we don't really have one, so to speak," she stammered, her face turning red.

"Oh my g….It's you, isn't it?" Abby said in disbelief.

"Well, ya, but….."

(A/N:_ya_ is the Afrikaans word for yes, it's the SA version of _yeah_, pronounced the same way as the Spanish _ya_)

"You and who?" Abby demanded, "Numbuh 664? No, Dean. It's Dean ain't it?"

"Yes, it's Dean," Michelle said, defeated, "We've been dating for about month now, just don't tell Numbuh 664, okay? Relationships like that between operatives are forbidden, he would freak."

"No worries," Abby said.

"Yeah," Hoagie agreed, "you're secret's safe with us."

They reached a large door with '663' painted in huge red numbers on it. The '663' was surrounded by a bunch of 'Keep Out' signs.

Michelle led them in.

"Welcome to my humble abode," she declared, "mi casa is su casa, or how ever that goes."

Abby and Hoagie looked around. The place was huge. There was a bar to the one side a pool able to the other, the left wall was one big bookshelf, the right wall was one big TV; she had everything.

"Whoa," Hoagie said, "If I had a room like this I'd _never_ go home."

Michelle just smiled.

"How'd you get this kind of leverage?" Abby asked, "You sleepin' with 664 or what."

"Ya, five times a week," Michelle said innocently.

Abby and Hoagie spun to look at her in complete shock.

"I'm kidding," Michelle said quickly, raising her hands defensively.

The three burst out laughing.

"Hold up guys, I'll go get us a Coke and we can start talking business," Michelle said giggling.

While she was busy at the bar, Abby couldn't help looking at Hoagie, his big goofy grin spread over his face.

"What?" he chuckled, catching her look.

"It's just good to see you smiling again," was all Abby could say.

"Hey, only uphill from here," Hoagie said triumphantly.

Michelle returned with the Cokes. They all sat down on the set of couches in front of the TV.

"So what's the plan?" Hoagie asked opening his Coke, the escaping gas making a hissing sound as it erupted from the can.

"Well as I've said they've accepted us," Michelle said, "all we have to do is complete the mission, we'll receive further instructions then."

"Where gonna have to make a break for it, aren't we?" Abby said sighing.

"Looks like it," Hoagie said, a grin slowly forming, "but c'mon, that's way off. For now we relax and prepare."

He suddenly raised his can, "To a better life."

Abby raised her can, "To a new beginning."

Michelle raised her can, "To our freedom."

* * *

**Turns out there wasn't very much slang after all. Oh well. Sorry it's a bit short, but I have to end the chapter here, all part of the great master plan. I was actually going to name this chapter 'Introduction', but as I wrote that last line, I had to change it.**

**Don't wanna review? By now you should understand the consequences. **

**Dark**Mike


	6. Questions and Mr Andrews

**Next chapter up. This is where theT rating starts taking affect.**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Questions and Mr. Andrews**

_Father's lair, somewhere in southern Africa _

"_Agent 9, Agent 9, your presence is requested in bay 21"_

The tall 16 year old snorted as the disembodied voice echoed down the service passage he was in.

"Were the shit is bay 21?" he said to himself, the cigarette in his mouth shifting up and down.

The pushed himself off the wall he was slumped against and began making his way down the passage, his shoes clanging against the metal floor. He exited the passage to see a small, balding man rush towards him.

"There you are," the man exclaimed, "C'mon Father wants to see you."

At the sound of his real employer's name, Agent 9 straightened up immediately and hurried after him. They entered the large docking bay to be engulfed but a roar of activity. Men rushed about everywhere, carrying boxes, crates, barrels among other weird and wonderful things. Agent 9 was lead to the center of it all to see a fleet of 9 or 10 jeeps, all being loaded and readied. Beside them was a small helicopter, fairly simple but for the valve-fed Browning 50 cal. machine gun mounted on the left side, glistening in the small amount of sunlight coming through the open roof. The most used machine gun on the planet; it has the ability to fire 350 rounds a minute. His glance fell from the chopper to the dark silhouette standing along-side the first jeep in the line; he was chatting to a seemingly foreign blond.

"I assure you," Agent 9 caught, "he will be more than useful….."

They both turned around at the approach of the 16 year old.

"Ah, and here he is," Father said proudly, putting his arm around the teen, "Henrietta von Marzipan, I'd like you to meet Agent 9, Wayden Fordon."

"It's a pleasure," Wayden said, trying his best to suppress his thick coloured accent.

"Likewise, but you don't haff to hide your accent," the blond said smiling, her _own_ thick accent seeping through her words.

She eyed him up and down.

"Athletic, smart," she listed, "not bad, vot do you know of the desert?"

"Um, enough," Wayden said, shocked by she was examining him.

"Ve shall see," Henrietta said smiling slyly.

She turned and walked to the chopper and began fiddling with some equipment.

Wayden gave a questioning look at Father.

"She will be leading the expedition," Father said simply.

"Her?" Wayden said in surprise, "she looks like she's 14 years old."

"15," Father corrected him, "but to everyone else she's an early blooming 12 year old, and she knows a lot more about candy than you and I will ever know, if anyone can find the Basugian city its her."

"Candy?" Wayden said in confusion.

Father sighed.

"Oh, what do you call it, sweets?" he said, frustrated, "Anyway, she is your superior and you are going to treat her as such."

"Yes Father," Wayden said solemnly.

"Now is when all I have taught you comes into practice," Father said placing a hand on Wayden's shoulder, "make me proud, son."

* * *

_Tree-house, Sector S_

Hoagie let out a long whistle as he ran his hand along the smooth side of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R, his fingers falling into the bullet holes that scattered its surface.

"One question," he said to Dean, who was standing beside him taking some measurements.

Dean looked up from his measuring tape. "What?" he said.

"Why real guns," Hoagie asked simply.

"Well we tried the whole laser thing," Dean said returning to his work, "but the freaks we deal with down here mean business, you either gotta blow out the guy's knee-cap or blow out his brains, else you're dead."

He paused, and closed his eyes. An image flashed across the back of his eyelids.

"_Do it!!"_

"_No! I can't!"_

"_You've got to! This guy'll ruin everything!"_

"_Dean, please don't!!"_

"_Shut the fuck up, Michelle!! Do it now Dean, or we all take the fall."_

Hoagie looked at him questioningly.

"Have you ever, y'know," Hoagie said, bringing Dean back to focus, "blown somebody's brains out?"

"Me," Dean said chuckling, "no way, we usually just go for the knee-cap."

He patted the S.C.A.M.P.E.R.

"But this thing won't last two seconds in South African skies," he quickly changed the subject, "we gotta upgrade this bugger."

Hoagie grinned.

"What you got in mind?"

"Something completely against KND regulation," Dean said, also grinning.

"How so?" Hoagie asked, his curiosity evident in his voice.

"Well technically all our weapons are against KND reg," Dean shrugged looking up at the S.C.A.M.P.E.R, "We aren't allowed to use penetrating ammo, but like I said, we got no choice."

"So?" Hoagie enquired again.

"We gotta BP (bulletproof) this baby," Dean continued smiling, "Slap a couple gats' on, you up for it?"

"Always," Hoagie said taking his over-shirt off.

"Hey," Dean said, "no hard feelings 'bout earlier, right?"

"Nah," Hoagie said brushing it off with a wave, "I probably woulda done the same thing."

Dean chuckled as he lit the blow-torch, shaking off the memories.

Michelle heaved another box onto the pile. Why the hell did she have so much stuff? She turned to see Abby going through her CDs.

"Prime Circle? The Parlotones? Linkin Park?" she listed, "Abby aint even heard of these people."

Michelle sighed.

"You're a Hip-Hop-Head, aren't you?" she said.

"A what?"

"Y'know, you're into the whole Rap, R&B and Hip-Hop scene, I mean, I understand you not knowing Prime Circe or the Parlotones, they're South African bands, but Linkin Park? Those dudes are freakin' legends."

Abby shrugged and put the CDs into a box.

"You said you had questions for us," Abby said, loading more personal items the box.

"Not really," Michelle replied, "I just had to give some reasons for being in my room for so long."

"Why? It's ain't like Numbuh 664 was around," Abby said raising an eyebrow.

"He has every inch of this tree house wired," Michelle said, looking downward, her voice lowered, "let's just say recent events have caused us to loose his trust."

"What kind of events?" Abby asked, her suspicion rising further.

"Terrible things," Michelle sighed, "but that's not important, all you have to know is every room in this tree-house is being watched except the bedrooms and the bathrooms, so watch what you say."

There was a moment of silence as the girls got lost in their own thoughts.

"I actually do have a question," Michelle said, "why are you guys doing this? What's your reason for running? You seem to have an awesome sector, and I checked your team's résumé, you're all being considered for post-13 operations, Numbuh1's is even being listed by Numbuh ∞ as a candidate for a top secret position."

"What's your reason?" Abby asked.

"No, no, no, I asked first," Michelle said, "you can't answer a question with another question."

Abby sighed.

"My parents are getting divorced," she said finally in a sad voice.

Michelle remained silent as a gesture for her to continue.

"It started a couple of months ago, things hadn't been working out too well between my parents, both my mom and my dad work very long hours, so tension was unavoidable. It started with a few small arguments but those eventually turned into all-out horror shows, screaming at each other at the top of their lungs. My dad actually threw a chair at my mom."

Michelle gasped. She was now sitting on her bed, a pillow clutched to her chest.

Abby smiled weakly, "Don't worry, it missed her, but went straight through the glass door leading into our backyard. Then my dad accused my mom of having an affair. They went for counseling, and after that everything seemed alright, they seemed happy again. But then, next thing I know, my dad is shoving some preenup in my mom's face, sayin' something 'bout him 'just wanting to make sure of the future' or something. That was the final straw; my mom presented the divorce papers the next day."

"Whoa," Michelle said briefly, "ugly."

"Yeah, but that's not the worst part," Abby said, as-a-matter-of-factly, "my dad's moved out, and I've stayed with my mom, they worked out a temporary custody agreement that I see my dad over the weekends. So I've become the emotional ammunition, caught in a vicious game of tug-o-war between my parents, each trying to spoil me to outdo the other. But now the real hell comes, I was spending a Saturday with my dad, when he told me this whole story of how he was going to buy himself a house on the other side of town, and how me, Cree and him were gonna live there happily together, and how he'd never let that witch take us away from him."

"Cree?" Michelle asked.

"My older sister," Abby explained, "she used to work for Father, but doesn't anymore, she's at collage now, studying to be a surgeon like my dad."

"That's pretty cool," Michelle said.

"Yeah," Abby said smiling, "we had a bit of a rough patch, she'd gone traitor and escaped her decommissioning, and I hated her for it. But when she was captured and finally decommissioned about a year ago, she became a completely different person. We grew really close, I actually cried when she left for collage, something I promised myself I would never do."

Michelle chuckled, and Abby smiled wider and began to laugh too.

"So what's your reason?" Abby asked again.

"I never had any parents," Michelle said, "I'm and AIDS orphan, I don't know who my father is and my mother died of AIDS when I was 5 weeks old."

"Hold on" Abby said, "Are you…"

"HIV positive?" Michelle said, finishing her sentence, "no, my mom took medication while she was pregnant to prevent that from happening, but giving birth took too much out of her, she got sick shortly after, and passed away on her hospital bed with me in her arms."

"I'm so sorry," Abby said softly.

"Nah its okay," Michelle said, "I was put into an orphanage when I was 3, before then I was under foster care, it was alright, but I wanted something better. That's why I joined the KND, the reason my room is tricked out is 'cause I live here full time. But now it seems that staying here is just out of the question."

Silence returned as they began packing boxes again.

"What about Hoagie?" Michelle asked looking up suddenly.

"I'm not entirely sure," Abby said, a thoughtful look on her face, "got something to do with his dad. You're gonna have to ask him yourself."

Michelle shrugged as the two of them continued packing the last of Michelle's things into boxes, ready for collection.

"Meet Jonathan Andrews," Vuyani said, pointing at the holographic image of the 11 year old boy floating from the CDU (Central Display Unit) in the centre of the briefing room. Sector S and V sat surrounding the CDU, with the two sector leaders standing beside it.

"He is our most valuable informant," Vuyani continued, "His help in the past has closed many cases, his information always viable and his loyalty to us always true."

"But our most recent surveillance has show that someone new in town taking an interest in Mr. Andrews," Nigel said as a new image appeared, this one showing a two familiar faces talking with Jonothan.

Abby recognized the first, female face immediately.

"Heinie?" she said in disbelief.

"And isn't that the pilot that almost blew us out of the sky this morning?" Hoagie added, squinting at the image.

"Henrietta von Marzipan and Wayden Fordon, aka Agent 9, have both been seen speaking on numerous occasions to our friend Mr. Andrews," Nigel continued, "they know he knows something, but so far, he hasn't told them anything."

"Ms. Marzipan and Mr. Fordon, we suspect, are working for Father," Vuyani said.

"That ain't possible," Abby objected, "Henrietta would never do anything like that, she's reformed."

"So we thought," Nigel said, picking up a file form the table next to him, "but Moonbase confirms it, she's up to he old tricks."

He handed the file to Abby, who began to page through it, her eyes widening with every page.

"There is a large High School rugby match between Fish Hoek High and Wynberg Boys on tomorrow night," Vuyani said, "Huge rivalry and a huge betting ring to go with it."

"The action will be at Club Galaxy, a private nightclub in the middle of town which exclusively accommodates teens." Nigel explained further, "The rugby match will be shown there and once the game is done, thats is where bets will be paid."

"We know Mr. Andrews will be there," Vuyani said, "he was sent a private invitation from the club owner, Roger Heller. It is a popularity thing, if everything goes well, Andrews will spread the word."

"We have a feeling Father is done playing nice and will make a more forceful move on him," Nigel continued, "so we have to get to him first."

"Getting in will not be difficult," Vuyani said, "It is getting out that will be the challenge."

"Due to the high danger risk of this mission," Nigel stated, "we are going to have to use full force, in other words, real ammo."

"Yes," Vuyani agreed, "Numbuh 661, I want you to take Numbuhs 2, 3, 4 and 5 to the shooting range, show them the ropes, Numbuh 1 will come with me. We will meet again tomorrow at 14h00 for a plan description and departure will be at 18h00. Dismissed."

* * *

**Reviews are what help me sleep at night. Well actually, no not really, but they're appreciated anyway.**


	7. Undercover

**Sup guys, sorry for the wait. It's only been what? Two months?**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Undercover**

_Club Galaxy, 14 Baker Street, Cape Town_

A black stretch limousine pulled up to the red carpet that stretched form the door of Club Galaxy. A driver hopped from the driver's seat and rushed to the passenger door. The two 16 year old bouncers standing at the door looked at each other. This guy looked important.

"Better get the boss," the one said and the other rushed off.

The first to step from the limo was a tall African boy, dreadlocks hanging onto his shoulders and dressed in a black suit and red tie. He looked around carefully, and then stepped aside. A second person emerged from the dark limo, this time the boy was white with dark brown hair and a pair of red tinted glasses wearing a white suit. He stood proudly and bent to help a third person from the limo, an African girl with long, curled black hair and wearing a black cocktail dress. They smiled at each other before linking arms and making their way down the red carpet, the African boy following behind.

As they got to the door the guard brought up a clipboard.

"Name?" he said.

"Oh, we're not on the list" the boy said in an American accent.

"Well this is a private function, so if you're not on the list then I'm afraid…," the guard tried to explain.

"We've come a long way," the girl said, in what sounded like a British accent, "and we're quite the gamblers, are you sure there's no way we could possibly persuade you to let us in?"

At that moment the doors burst open and a smartly dressed teenager look around franticly. A nervous smile struck his face as he laid eyes on the couple.

"Hi there," he said, "Morne Van der Merwe, can I help you?"

"My name is Chris Fredrick," the boy stated, "and this is my associate, Jasmine Herlouse and our friend Dreg Williams, we heard you had a bit of a betting pool going on this evening, we just wanted to know if we could take part."

"I'm sorry but this is a private function," Morne said, "but we are having a blackjack evening tomorrow night, if you'd like to make a reservation?"

"I'm afraid that doesn't work for us," the Chris said smiling, "we have a flight first thing, we did have some big expectations for this evening, and we have a habit of doing some bit spending."

He pulled out a wad of 100 notes and handed to the bewildered club manger who grinned widely.

"I see," he said and snapped his fingers. A young girl, barely 15, dressed in a bikini and knee high boots rushed to the door.

"Anne, find our guests a nice table," Morne instructed, "and make sure they have placed their bets before the game begins."

The half naked girl nodded and led the couple into the club. The club was a large open room with tables at multiple levels. A bar covered the east wall and flashing dance floor dominated the centre of the room. Suspended on the west wall was a huge TV screen, black for the moment. Chris and Jasmine followed Anne to a table, where they took a seat. Dreg stood behind them.

"Bets can be placed at the bar," she said, "Can I get either of you something to drink?"

"We're fine thanks," Chris said smiling, "but I have a question, we were informed of this evening by somebody, a Mr. Andrews, is he here?"

"He is," Anne said and she pointed to a boy dressed in a white suit, sitting alone at a table.

"Thank you," Chris said politely.

Anne nodded and hurried off.

Chris brought his hand to his ear.

"That him?" he said in a now British accent.

"First off," Hoagie's voice said through the speaker in Nigel's ear, "stop touching your ear, there's a security camera pointed right at you guys, so if I can see it, so can the boys with the guns."

Hoagie turned to Dean who sat with him and Michelle in the grey van sitting in the parking lot a block from the club.

"Face ID check?" he asked.

"Positive," Dean said, "that's our guy."

"We have a positive," Michelle said into a radio, "start timers now."

"Roger," Sibenzile confirmed. She stood in the ally behind the club with Wally and Kuki. She turned to them and nodded and the three of them set to work.

Inside Club Galaxy, Vuyani or 'Dreg' leaned towards Nigel.

"Positive?" he asked.

"Yes," Nigel said, he then turned to Abby sitting beside him, "let's go."

The three of them approached the lone diner.

"Hi there," Nigel said, his American accent retuned, "mind if we join you?"

The blond boy looked at the American and then at the African muscle standing behind him.

"Sure," he said as Nigel and Abby took a seat.

"So who're you betting on?" Nigel asked.

"Fish Hoek," Jonathan said, "I'm an old valley kid myself."

There was a brief pause.

"I'm Chris Fredrick and this is Jasmine Herlouse," Nigel explained.

"Jono Andrews," the boy said.

"Oh we know who you are," Abby said in her British accent, "we were told you were the guy to come to for some info."

Jono smiled slyly.

"There's a price," he said.

"We are more than willing to pay," Nigel said and he pulled a second wad of 100 notes from his jacket and slid it across the table.

"Dollars!" Jono exclaimed, snatching up the cash, "you gotta deal! Wadda'ya wanna know?"

"We hear Father's in town," Nigel said, "and…"

"Wait," Jono cut him off, his eyes narrowing, "you're not KND are you?"

"KND?" Abby said, sounding confused, "never heard of them."

Jono glanced at them again.

"Ya," he finally said, "you heard correctly."

"What's he up to?" Abby asked.

"Dunno exactly," Jono explained, "but I heard it's got something to do with the Lost City of the Basuga. He's set up camp in the Kalahari, some say he's even found it."

"Boss, we got company," Hoagie's voice suddenly blared in Nigel's ear, "Agent 9 has entered the building."

"What was that?" Jono said having heard the sound from Nigel's ear, he noticed the earpiece, "you are KND!"

Vuyani walked up behind the now frantic boy and tapped lightly on his neck. Jono slumped over, unconscious.

"We have everything we need," he said, "let's get out of here."

"What about Agent 9?" Nigel said.

"Heads up," Hoagie said in Nigel's ear, "he's coming your way…"

"Another time," Vuyani said.

"But he's our direct link to Father," Nigel protested, ignoring Hoagie's last message.

"But we need…"

"Ahem…"

Nigel and Vuyani looked up to see Wayden Fordon standing over them.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked politely, his coloured accent strong.

"No, not at all," Nigel said quickly regaining himself.

"Chris and Jasmine, right?" Wayden asked.

"Yes, how did you…" Abby started saying.

"Got your names up front," Wayden cut her off, "this guy giving you trouble?"

He motioned towards Jono Andrews's unconscious body.

"No, no," Nigel said, "he's an old friend of mine, had one too many I'm afraid…"

"I see," Wayden said grinning, "but I've also known Mr. Andrews for quite some time, and I must say, he's never mentioned you."

"That's understandable," Nigel said calmly, "I hadn't seen him in years, two different sides of the world you understand."

"Of course," Wayden said, "I couldn't help but overhear, you're looking into Father?"

Nigel gulped and looked at Abby.

"We're investors," Abby said quickly.

"Investors?" Wayden said raising an eyebrow, "That's interesting, rather young to be jumping into the business world, aren't you?

"We like the idea of a head start," Abby replied, "We understand he is running into some new property and business in the near future, we simply wanted to see if we could help out."

"I see," Wayden said looking thoughtful, "well I happen to know Father at a personal level, what do you say we order dinner and talk discuss this further."

He grabbed a menu and stood it in front of them on the table, blocking them from the view of the security camera and everyone else in the room.

"The crayfish looks good," he said.

"That's OK," Nigel said, "we were just leaving, a pleasure to meet you."

Nigel made a motion to get up.

"I don't think so."

There was a small click as Wayden placed a gun on Nigel's chest, hidden by the menu. Abby gasped and Vuyani reached into his jacket.

"I wouldn't if I were you," Wayden chuckled as he trained the weapon at Nigel's heart.

"Know what I think," Wayden said in a low voice, "I don't think you are Chris Franklin, Jasmine Herlouse and Dreg Williams, I think your Nigel Uno, Abigail Lincoln and my old friend Vuyani Mekelene, Kids Next Door."

He eyed Vuyani.

"The dreds don't work, bra," he laughed.

Hoagie, Michelle and Dean huddled around the monitor in silence.

"What happening?" Michelle said trying to read the horrified facial expressions of her teammates.

"Nothing good," Dean said, he turned to Hoagie, "You gotta give Sibz the signal."

"No, we don't know what's happening," Hoagie protested, "it could make the situation worse."

"Or give them a window to escape;" Dean said franticly his voice rising, "we have to do something."

"Hey!" Michelle grabbed their attention, "Numbuh 464 put me in charge."

"And?" the boys both asked at the same time.

"Do it," she said.

Nigel could feel the pressure of the metal on his chest, one wrong move and there would be a hole there.

"Boss," Hoagie's voice sounded distant, "duck and cover."

This snapped Nigel back to reality.

"Duck and cover!" he shouted as he lifted his knee suddenly, flipping the table into a shield. The motion knocked Wayden off his chair. Suddenly the Bar exploded, the entire wall behind it falling to pieces. Guests and waitresses screamed and ran for it. Nigel, Abby and Vuyani scrambled from behind the table towards the opening. Wayden gathered himself, realizing what was happening he started firing through the table. Bullets whizzed around the KND operatives as they attempted their escape.

"Guys?" Hoagie called through the radio, "what's happening? We lost visuals when the charges went off."

"We're fine for the momen….AAGGHH!!"

Nigel let out a shout of pain as a bullet tore into his thigh and exited through his side. Abby looked back to see Nigel bleeding, a lot.

"Vuyani!" Abby called out in panic.

Vuyani looked back and swore.

Wayden stopped for a moment to reload. Surly he must have gotten them by now? He peeked over the table but ducked again as four 35 cal. bullets pierced the air above his head. It was Wayden's turn to scramble this time as he moved to crouched behind the half-wall that separated the dance floor from the rest of the room. He reached around the corner and fired a few random shots. This caught Vuyani off guard. Sibenzile, Kuki and Wally had rushed in and were helping with Nigel. Abby pulled the earpiece, blaring with Hoagie's attempts to make contact with his fallen leader, from his ear and stuck it in her own.

"Hoagie!" she called out, cutting him off, "get the van down here now! Nigel's down!"

He didn't need to be told twice. Dean and Michelle were thrown back as the van screeched from the parking lot, breaking through the chain-link fence.

Wayden paused for a moment, and then reached around the corner a second time. This time he was greeted with a sharp pain as the gun was kicked from his hand. He stood up quickly and smiled as he turned to face Vuyani, his gun trained on the 16-year-old's forehead.

"Impressive," Wayden said, "not bad for a kid."

"This ends now Fordon," Vuyani seethed.

Wayden smirked, "_Isit_?"

He flung into a back flip, kicking Vuyani's gun across the room, spinning and landing on his feet before planting a blow to the stunned Sector Leader's mid-section.

"I really don't think so."

Vuyani slumped to the floor as Wayden made a run for it, grabbing his gun as he ran. He burst through the clubs front door to see the grey van speeding towards him. He quickly fired a few sots at the vehicle's hood and wheels.

"Shit!" Hoagie cried out as a bullet split the windshield. He tried to turn but his front tires were out. The car tilted and tipped throwing it's passengers into the left side of the van's interior. Hoagie, Michelle and Dean climbed from the totaled vehicle to see Kuki desperately tending to Nigel's wounds.

"I can't do anything here," she called out, "he's loosing too much blood."

There was a loud whine as Wayden shot past aboard one of the fastest motorcycle in the world.

"Michelle!" Hoagie called out, "toss me a 35."

Michelle pulled the gun from her belt, and threw it to him.

"Dean," he continued, "salvage a radio from the van and contact Tasmin, we need Nigel out of here as fast as possible."

"Who died and put you in charge?" Wally protested at his friend's unusual behavior.

Hoagie pointed at Nigel.

"He will, unless we get our asses in gear!" Hoagie shouted at the Aussie.

"And what about you, Bruce Willace?" Wally shouted back, "what're you gonna do?"

"Get Agent 9," Hoagie said simply cocking the gun in his hand.

"No, you're…. not," Nigel choked.

"But boss…"

"That's… an order."

Hoagie looked around at the faces surrounding him. He turned and ran for a motorcycle similar to the Wayden had stolen. Quickly hot-wiring it, he revved it up. He jumped as two arms wrapped around his waist. He turned to see Abby's dust and tear-stained face.

"What are you…?" Hoagie tried to protest.

"I'm coming with you," Abby stated.

"No you're not…" Hoagie tried again.

"Yes I am," Abby said.

He looked her in the eyes and she smiled softly.

"I am not going through with the rest of this alone if you get killed out there," she said grinning, "and knowing your clumsy ass, that's a high possibility."

Hoagie sighed and chuckled.

"Fine," he said revving the bike again, "but hold on."

Vuyani stepped from the building to see the blue and red bike scream past. He looked at the others.

"Was that…?" he asked.

Michelle just nodded. Vuyani growled as he kicked at the rubble.

Hoagie tore down Main Street after Wayden. Luckily, there weren't many cars on the road that time of night, so keeping sight of Wayden wasn't that hard. Hoagie pushed the bike forward until they were a few feet behind the fleeing Agent.

"Blow the tire!" Hoagie yelled over the roar of the engine and the wind.

"What?!" Abby yelled back

"Shoot his back tire!"

Abby clumsily fumbled for the gun attached to her belt. Once in her hand, she tried to aim the weapon at the rear tire of the bike ahead of them. She began to squeeze the trigger but an oncoming car caused Hoagie to swerve. The bullet ricocheted off the street along side Wayden. Realizing what was happening, he began to swerve back and forth.

"What are you waiting for?" Hoagie yelled again.

"I can't get a clear shot!" Abby replied, irritated.

A second car caused the South African to have to level up. That was what Abby was waiting for. She fired, Wayden's rear tire exploding. The bike began veer to the left before it fell onto its side and began to slide. Wayden began to slide himself, but when he tried to lift his head the momentum flipped him into a roll. The bike shot forward, slamming into this time an oncoming truck. The truck slammed on breaks, sliding its rear around forming a roadblock. Hoagie, seeing this, tried to slam on breaks himself.

"We're going too fast!" he cried in desperation, "Bail and roll!"

Hoagie flung himself off the bike grabbing Abby and pulling her into an embrace. The bike hit the truck, going up in flames. The two hit the ground with bone shattering force. They rolled ten or twelve times before coming to a painful halt, bike debris raining down around them. Abby opened her eyes to see the face of the young pilot grinning at her.

"Ow," he stated simply.

She laughed as the two detangled themselves. They stood up very carefully; they were both very badly grazed but nothing broken. Wayden had also come around. He noticed his left arm was bent in a most peculiar way. He tried to move, but let out a cry as a sharp pain shot from the arm. Yep, defiantly broken. He looked around to see the shape of the two KND operatives through smoke rising from the fire raging from the side of the truck. Staggering to his feet he began to run in the opposite direction. Abby caught this in the corner of her eye.

"There he goes," she called to her comrade.

They took off after him.

"Numbuh 663, come in!" he called into his wrist communicator.

"Numbuh 2?" came Michelle's frantic voice, "Is that you?"

"You better believe it," Hoagie said.

"Oh God, are you guys OK?" Michelle said with a sliver of relief, "we can see a fire ahead of us."

"Yeah, that was us," Hoagie chuckled, "we took Agent 9 down but lost him in the crash, we're perusing on foot."

"Great, see if you can corner him," Michelle said, "we're right behind you."

At this Abby and Hoagie picked up the pace. Wayden ducked into an alleyway and made his down it, knocking down trashcans and anything else he could to try and block off his pursuers. Being less injured than Wayden, Abby and Hoagie dodged and jumped the obstacles easily. Eventually Hoagie threw himself forward, taking Wayden down. The two scuffled on the ground for a bit before Hoagie pinned him.

"Ah, Agent 9, so glad we could finally get a chance to chat," Abby said leaning down to the teen's face.

Wayden just struggled in response. Only to have Hoagie's grip tighten. Wayden let out another cry, his broken arm being strained.

"Now, now," Abby said, "let's not be hasty, all we want is to ask a few questions."

"Who do you work for?" Hoagie asked, not being able to resist the cliché.

Abby frowned at him and turned back to Wayden, who was suddenly grinning.

"To answer your question," he said calmly, "I work for the same guy they do."

Abby and Hoagie looked up to see them surrounded by 8 masked men dressed in dark overalls, all pointing heavily modified M16's at them.

"What the…" was all that could escape from Hoagie's mouth before Wayden's hand shot out and pulled him to the ground. Abby immediately gained a fighting stance.

Wayden stood up and laughed.

"You really thought it would be that easy?" he said, "I should kill you both right now for your ignorance."

He took a gun from one of the men, cocked it and pointed it a Hoagie's head. Abby stepped forward to make a move on their captors, but was stopped by a series of _click-clicks _as 7 barrels became trained on her.

"I wouldn't girlie," Wayden said, "you're gonna stand and watch as I kill your boyfriend here."

Abby slowly lowered her fists her eyes wide in shock.

"Say night-night," Wayden smirked as he began to pull the trigger. Abby shut her eyes.

"Don't," a female voice stated from behind Wayden.

Everyone turned to see the dark figure of a girl with two braids sticking out from under some king of hat.

"Take the gun away from his head," the figure continued, thick in accent.

"But, they know too much," Wayden protested, "they'll ruin everything."

"Not to vorry, zis vas all anticipated in the original plan."

"But…"

"I hope you are aware of the chain of command here, Herr 9," the figure snapped, the sound of a helicopter approaching in the distance, "our orders are to get you out of here, they say nothing about killing anyone."

"Yes ma'am," Wayden said reluctantly as he lifted the firearm.

"Don't vorry," she said, her grin apparent in her tone of voice, "You'll get your shot at them soon enough."

She turned to the rest of the men, "We are expected back at base, here's our ride."

The helicopter was now hovering above the two buildings rising on either side of them. A rope ladder dropped form the side door of the chopper. Guns still aimed at the KND below them, the 8 men and two teens began to ascend up the ladder.

"Until ve meet again," the figure called down giving a small wave before the helicopter thundered into the night.

* * *

**3, 621 words. That's pretty impressive for me. Anyway, please review and let me know if this is worth continuing.**

**Dark**Mike


	8. The Eighth Chapter

****

Next update up. I'd like to take this opportunity to send a HUGE thanks to all those who have reviewed thus far. I have 25 as I write this, the most I've gotten yet. So, keep reviewing and I'll keep writing, and I don't ask that you review every chapter, but let me know how it's going every now and then.

**Right, with that said, on to the next chappie…**

* * *

**Chapter 8: The Eighth Chapter**

_KND Moonbase_

"Disappointment is the only word that comes to mind," Rachel said sternly, "utter disappointment."

The Supreme Commander looked across at the four operatives standing at attention before her. She swept their faces; Vuyani stood calmly, Hoagie looked distant, Abby was frowning and nigel's face was simply emotionless, he stood off to the one side propped up by a crutch, his left leg in bandages.

"…To find that an entire sector is in violation of one of the KND's most strict regulations," Rachel continued, "and to find two of our best operatives disobeying direct orders. Is there anything you have to say for yourselves?"

"With all due respect ma'am," Vuyani spoke up, "we did fill out numerous requests regarding the upgrade of our weapons."

"Which were denied," Rachel said, her voice rising, "the reason you presented was considered ineligible."

"You must please try to understand," Vuyani pleaded, "there are no super-villains in South Africa. We have been approached the South African Police and Military to help out, you have no idea the situation down there at the moment."

"Yes, there is a crime issue," Rachel said in a tired voice, "the same thing is happening in America and Europe and practically the entire planet."

"Yes, but at least the majority of these places have a decent police force," Vuyani said, "Ours is rated third worst in the world. We were given the guns by our government; they were not obtained in any illegal manner and they are used for nothing but self defense."

"Not from what I heard," Rachel said narrowing her eyes at the African, "there are some pretty nasty rumors going around about your sector, not to mention the internal investigation."

Vuyani now remained silent.

"From what we understand Father seems to have armed himself pretty well," Rachel said with a sigh, "So for the duration of this mission, you may continue the use of the weapons, but afterwards the matter will be dealt with."

Vuyani nodded.

"Right, Numbuh 664," Rachel said waving her hand, "you are dismissed."

Vuyani gave a curt salute, turned, and left the room.

"And you two?" the Supreme Commander said, glancing at the Second in Command and 2x4 Officer, who remained silent.

"I'm not sure if you are aware," Rachel said, her tone serious, "but you two are skating on thin ice. There's been a lot of trouble surrounding the two of you recently and you have a lot of explaining to. This mission may make or break you KND careers, so my suggestion is that you don't make matter's worse for yourselves. I giving you one final chance; don't make me regret it."

"Yes ma'am," Hoagie and Abby said softly.

"You're dismissed," she said turning away.

The two just turned and left.

Nigel watched them go, and as he did, got a death glare from Hoagie. He quickly diverted his glance. Once they had left the room, he went to stand next to the blond as she gazed out into space through the full-wall window.

"Someone hacked into the main server again on Friday night," Rachel said softly, "It's them, I know it."

"You're having them decommissioned, aren't you?" the British boy spoke up for the first time that evening.

"We don't have a choice," Rachel stated sadly, "The powers that be have made their decision."

"I guess it's the most reasonable thing to do," Nigel sighed, then he smiled, "they're not going to go without a fight."

"We know," Rachel said, shaking her head, "we know."

She looked at Nigel, scanning him up and down, and then focusing on his leg.

"I can't wait to read the mission report on this," she smiled, "interesting evening I presume."

Nigel grinned.

"All in a days work for us _field_ operatives," he said cockily, "nothing you _desk _operatives would understand."

Rachel let out a playful groan.

"Don't you dare start this again," she said looking at him intently.

Nigel grinned again and leaned in towards her, but was stopped by a hand on his chest. He gave her a questioning look.

"Security cam's still on," she whispered.

Nigel quickly straightened himself up.

"I'll see if I can pop in later," he said quickly, before he turned and left the blond by herself. Rachel staggered over to her desk and collapsed into her chair, fatigue finally kicking in. She couldn't help but think of the two operatives that had been such a thorn in her side recently. For some reason, she was regretting that last chance already.

Nigel strolled into the R.A.P.T.E.R. and sat down beside Vuyani who was at the controls. He turned to see the African just grinning at him, his white teeth seeming so much brighter against his dark skin.

"What?" Nigel said raising an eyebrow.

"You really know how to butter her up, don't you," Vuyani said.

Nigel looked away.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," he resorted, "she's just a good friend."

"Ya, a _really_ good friend," Vuyani said laughing.

"Man, you got no idea!" Hoagie called from the back of the craft, laughing as well.

"Just shut up and drive," Nigel grunted, his arms folded and his brow crossed.

At this, Vuyani and Hoagie just laughed harder. Nigel groaned, this was gonna be a long trip home.

* * *

_Sector S tree-house, Cape Town, South Africa_

"We got him, alright."

Abby and Hoagie had just finished showing the security cam footage of Nigel and Rachel to Michelle, who was grinning ear to ear. They all sat in her room grouped around Hoagie's laptop.

"This is perfect," she chirped, "We now have some leverage. When are we gonna show it to him?"

"When the time comes," Hoagie said, also grinning, "We will have him at our utmost disposal. The great Nigel Uno hooked up with our dear Supreme Commander, if this gets out, Nigel's ruined."

"But so is Rachel," Abby said frowning, "we got nothing against her."

"Which is exactly why _Nigie-kins_ will do what ever it takes to keep this covered up," Hoagie supplied, almost giggling.

"I suppose," Abby said, finally giving a grin of her own.

"Yep," Hoagie said taking a sip of his Red Bull, "we're A for away."

"Speaking of which…" Abby said turning to Michelle expectantly.

"Were meeting him or her today," the red-head answered Abby's silent question, "She stays at the Dennis Manor, where we're meeting Michael Dennis and Natalie Mac Adams who are joining the expedition team as the resident experts on the Basuga. She our contact."

"How so?" Hoagie asked.

"She's the ones getting us out of that desert," Michelle stated simply.

"And where do we go from there?" Abby now asked.

"Not entirely sure," Michelle said grinning again, "but from what I heard, paradise ain't got nothing on this place."

* * *

Dean walked into the TV room to find Wally perched on the couch, absorbed by the images flashing before him.

"Whacha watching?" he asked, throwing himself on the couch as well.

"Rugby!" Wally exclaimed, "You've got it on every channel."

"Dude, it's Sunday," Dean said, "and we're right in the middle of the Currie Cup. Who's playing?"

Wally stared at the screen.

"Sharks an' Cheetahs," he said.

"Sharks have got it hands down," Dean said shaking his head, "Hey how're you into rugby?

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm Australian, mate," Wally explained, "My dad's a fanatic."

"But you guys got, what's it called?" Dean said looking thoughtful, "NFL? Y'know, the Super Bowl and all that."

"Yeah, so whot?" Wally said, "Rugby's still pretty big in parts of the States"

"Hm," Dean said, interested, "there's something I didn't know. I always thought America was all Football and Baseball. What about cricket?"

"Oh," Wally said looking flustered, "don't even get me started."

"All operatives to the briefing room for an immediate meeting," Vuyani's voice came over the intercom, and he did not sound pleased.

"Oh great," Dean said sarcastically, "obviously more good news."

Wally chuckled as the two trudged their way to the briefing room.

* * *

Once the entire company was present in the large room, Nigel stepped up to the podium, his gaze sweeping across the eight pre-teens sitting before him.

"Good morning everyone," he said professionally, "I trust you all slept well, but then again who couldn't after last night."

He could see certain members of his audience cringe.

"Yes well," Nigel continued, "we won't deal with that now, our matter for today is our meeting with Dr. Michael Dennis and Natalie Mac Adams. They have spent a good portion of their childhood studying what is known about the Basuga, and have agreed to assist us on our mission. Not all of us will be needed for the meeting so only Numbuh 664, Numbuh 5, Numbuh 663 and I will be attending. Numbuh 2 will be getting us there. While we are gone I'd like the rest of you to begin mission prep; we only have four days to get to the Kalahari so we need to get started now."

He looked around the room again.

"Any questions?"

There was no reply.

"Right," the Sector leader then said, "those attending the meeting must please make themselves presentable and report to the docking bay in 30 minutes, the rest of you get started with your allocated duties. Dismissed."

* * *

_Somewhere in the Karoo, Southern Africa_

Orange-red plains and yellow grassland spread out beneath the C.O.O.L.B.U.S as it closed in on its destination. The place in question now appeared on the horizon, an explosion of colour, shattering the dull of the South African North-West. Its lush lawns and perfect gardens surrounding the pearl white, three-story manor topped with a navy-blue tiled roof made the estate look like it was cut out of some English "country-side" magazine and pasted onto a page of National Geographic. The KND aircraft landed gently on the cobble-stone driveway, its doors hissing open. The five operatives filed out to meet a tall, old African man who stood with his back ridged and straight, despite his age.

"Good Morning," Vuyani said politely, "We are here to see Dr. Dennis; I believe he is expecting us."

The aged man let out a grunt and turned around, slowly making his way towards the large house, the KND operatives following. They were led through an extravagant entrance hall and taken down a large corridor. They finally stopped in front of a huge door. The man turned to them, but said nothing. After a few moments, Nigel finally spoke up;

"Is he in here?" he asked, almost afraid to break the silence.

The old man grunted again, then turned and walked off in another direction, his feet not making a sound on the marble floors. Hesitantly, Vuyani pushed the oak door open to reveal an enormous office. Bookshelves covered every wall with only an occasional gap which was filled by some statue of painting. A huge window dominated the far wall, and in front of it stood and oak desk covered with books, papers and ornaments. Behind the desk, crouched over an aged map, sat a dark haired 14 year old boy. He had a magnifying glass in his hand and was straining his eyes. To his right stood a girl, blond and looking the same age as him. She was holding a book just below her nose, reading through it contents at lightning speed, an un-amused look in her eyes.

"And?" the boy queried, not looking up, a well educated British accent wrapping his words.

The girl sighed.

"Occasion has two Cs," she said in a tired voice, also in the same accent.

The boy dropped the magnifying glass.

"Oh well," he said looking up and rubbing his eyes,"we can't discredit them for bad spelling."

He slowly brought his hands away from his eyes, noticing the five very confused pre-teens standing before him. His face brightened as his mouth exploded into a huge smile.

"Ah, the Kids Next Door," he said eagerly, "Wonderful! Wonderful!"

The jumped from his seat a proceeded to over-enthusiastically shake Vuyani's hand.

"Such a pleasure to meet you," he said, shaking the hands of the other four operatives in the same manner, "how long have you been here?"

"Well they've been standing here for the last five minutes," the girl said putting the book down, "Alfred brought them up."

"That old man," the boy said frowning for a moment, "why doesn't he inform me about theses things."

"He can't speak, you moron," the girl said, obviously irritated.

"Oh, yes, of course," the boy chuckled, taking no notice of his associates tone.

"I presume you are Dr. Dennis," Nigel said grinning.

"Please, call me Michael, Mike if you must," the boy exclaimed, "and you must be Nigel Uno, a bit of a Brit yourself I see, good show! Not that there's anything wrong with Africa, I love the place, but it's always refreshing to hear something from home."

Michael then turned to Vuyani.

"Vuyani Mekelene, I hope I said that right, I've heard so much, a pleasure to finally meet your acquaintance!"

He then turned to Abby.

"And, oh my lord, Abigail Lincoln, I can only say it's and honor to meet such a candy hunting veteran. Rumor has it, you've even tasted the Forth Flavour, is that correct?"

"Well, I..." Abby tried to reply, but was cut off by a firm pat on the back.

"That's alright," Michael said, "another time then."

He moved on to Hoagie.

"Hoagie P. Gilligan II, our resident Sky King, I must say your record is very impressive, lets hope we can put some of that skill to work, hmm?

And lastly he turned to Michelle, who was grinning playfully.

"And Michelle, my dear," He said giving her a hug, "so wonderful of you to organize this visit, please tell me, how is Mrs. King?"

"She's doing fine," Michelle replied, "they recently remodeled the orphanage."

"Fantastic! Simply wonderful!" Michael said spinning around, looking at the blond still standing behind the desk. He let out a gasp.

"Oh, how rude of me," he rushed over to her, "This is Natalie Mc Adams; my new associate, she flew down here from Oxford to give us a hand."

"So I heard," Nigel commented, "thank you for making the effort."

"It's nothing," Natalie said waving it off, "And if we do find this blasted city, I will be the discovery of the century. Giving up a chance to be a part of it is mindless."

The oak doors swung open causing everyone to spin around. In the doorway stood Alfred, who raised his hand to ring a small gold bell.

"Ah, lunch is ready," Michael said, "let's continue of conversation over something to eat, shall we?"

* * *

"C'mon, hurry up," Sibenzile hissed, "We don't have much time."

"Ya, ya," Dean said waved her off; he was opening a cardboard box marked 'sweets' with a pocket knife. The three remaining South African operatives stood in the hanger, surrounded by cardboard boxes just like the one in front of Dean. Once Dean had opened it, he reached inside to pull out a small packet. He poked the back with the knife, a small puff of white powder emerging from the hole. He brought the knife to his mouth and dabbed up some of the powder with his tongue.

"And?" Tamsin asked impatiently folding her arms, her usual quiet persona gone.

"Yep," Dean said approvingly, "that's the stuff."

"What about the other stuff?" Sibinzile asked.

"Checked it," Tasmin said, "All good."

"Excellent," Dean grinned, "I'll drop this batch off with Sipo, put the rest in the storeroom ."

The girls just nodded as he lifted the box and made his way towards the R.A.P.T.E.R. Just then, the doors swung open as Wally barged in.

"Hey," he shouted, holding up a remote, "will someone please tell how this frikking 'DSTV' works! Why the hell don't you guys 'ave standard cable?!"

The stopped shouting as he looked around, many of the bags of white powder still visible.

'What are you doing?" he asked in a suspicious tone.

"_Chii_," Sibinzile cursed clicking her tongue as she reached to her belt and pulled out Colt 23 cal. handgun, pointing it at Wally.

"Holy shi…" Wally tried to say.

"Shut up," the African girl said quietly, "stay where you are."

Suddenly, the doors swung open again. Kuki came skipping in.

"Numbuh 4?" she sang, "did you ask them?"

Sibenzile quickly hid the gun behind her back.

"Kuki get out of here," Wally said harshly.

"Why should she?" Tasmin said, smiling, "there's nothing wrong here."

"Yeah, Wally," Kuki asked cocking her head slightly, "Why do I have to go?"

"Just leave, Kuki," Wally said his voice rising slightly, his eyes trained on Sibenzile.

Dean grinned at Wally's reaction, and glanced at Tasmin who was grinning herself.

"Nonsense," she said, "what's up Kooks?"

"Well," Kuki began, "Numbuh 4 and I were channel surfing, and I couldn't find the Rainbow Monkey Super Love-tasic 24 Hour Channel anywhere."

Tasmin looked thoughtful for a moment.

"We don't get that channel down here," she finally said, "but check my room; I have the full DVD set of the Rainbow Monkey Show seasons one through six."

"You have season six?!" Kuki exclaimed, bubbling with excitement, "I missed most of those episodes."

"Knock yourself out," Tasmin said smiling.

"Wow! Thanks Numbuh 660!" Kuki shouted as she ran out of the room.

The attention turned back to Wally as the gun reappeared.

"My, my," Dean mused, "you do seem to care about Numbuh 3 quite a lot, don't you Numbuh 4?"

"She's a friend and teammate," Wall said sternly, "of course I care."

"Nah, I think it's a little more than that," Dean continued, "_Wat dink jy_, Tasmin."

"Ya, I've actually noticed it," Tasmin joined in, "so sweet, don't you think?"

"Very, sweet," Dean said, and pretended to look thoughtful, "there's only one problem, see, I pretty sure you've guessed what's going on here…"

"That you lot are dealin' drugs," Wally spat.

"'Dealing drugs' is such a negative term," Tasmin said, her sly grin not leaving petit face, "as Kids Next Door operatives we have sworn to attend to the needs of the children of South Africa, so that's all we're doing, tending to kids' needs."

"And if we just happen to make a few extra bucks in the process," Sibenzile sniggered, "bonus!"

"But you see, we don't think Global Command would really approve of our hard work," Dean explained, "so we would be ever so grateful if you would keep this to yourself."

"And If I don't?' Wally said in a cautious tone.

"Well now we wouldn't anything to happen to our dear friend Kuki, now would we," Tasmin said, her eyes narrowing.

Wally scoffed, "What're you gonna do?"

"Let's just say that the last guy to ask that wasn't pleased with the outcome," Sibenzile said, tapping the barrel of the gun lightly against her head, "Catch my drift?"

Wally's eyes widened. He did.

"So run along," Dean said waving him away, "we have work to do, we'd hate to keep all those needy kids waiting…"

* * *

"The Basuga were formed when a larger tribe, the Ntiska, split due to conflict between the two halves of the population. The one half left to become the well known Khoi-Khoi, while the other left to become the Basuga," Michael explained through mouthfuls of deep-fried Yellowtail.

The Seven of them were seated around a cast-iron table, surrounded by the massive garden that spread out from the rear of the manor, with enough food to feed a country laid out before them.

"They spent most of their early years as nomadic herders, keeping cattle, living in the south eastern region of what is now South Africa," Michael continued, "but, a few hundred years later, they were forced out of the area by the now thriving Khoi-Khoi, who, being herders themselves, need more room."

"But I thought the Basuga were forced out by the Dutch settlers," Nigel cut in.

"Myth," Michael chimed, "No, the Basuga left much earlier, and if you've heard that then I presume you've heard the rest if the legend?"

The KND operatives all nodded.

"Good," Michael said, "that's saves me some explaining. Right, now the legend says that it was the 'mystical' sugarcane that led to the Basuga's wealth, whereas actually, they had been wealthy from the start, their relocation just helped improve their riches. So, having perfected the art of candy making, the Basuga needed something new to occupy themselves with. Now, having so many merchants and traders coming in and out, the Basuga were exposed to the different cultures of the world and the Basugian high priests, intrigued by the concept of other religions, began studying them. A year ago, we unearthed a massive amount of Basugian scripts buried in bronze chests beneath the Kalahari; they documented hundreds of accounts and interviews with leaders of pretty much every religion in existence. And throughout these scripts the high priests kept coming back to one subject."

Michael motioned over one of the young maids running about. This one in particular had black hair and striking blue eyes.

"Francis, will you bring me the Cabernet Sauvignon," he asked her politely.

"Of course sir," Francis said with a blush.

"What was that subject?" Abby asked.

"The Apocalypse," Michael said, "you know, the end of the world, for some reason the priests were fascinated by D-Day."

Francis returned holding a bottle of red wine.

"Ah yes," Michael said happily.

She placed a glass in front of him and poured it half full. Something around the girl's wrist caught the British scientist's eye.

"What an exquisite bracelet," he said taking her hand and raising it to his face.

The bracelet consisted of a small gold sun and silver moon hanging from a chain of gold and silver rings, and after every two in the sequence was a small sapphire. The girl blushed again.

"Thank you, sir," she said, "my father made it for me."

"Well then my compliments to your father, my dear," Michael mused, still staring at the trinket, "he has quite a hand."

"Thank you again, sir," Francis said blushing yet again, "I'll tell him."

Michael picked up the almost forgotten glass in front of him and took a sip, letting out a satisfied sigh.

"Wine?" Nigel asked raising an eyebrow, "a bit young aren't we?"

"Maybe," Michael said after another sip, "but this stuff is superb."

He placed the glass in front of him.

"Right. Where was I?"

"D-Day?" Hoagie said.

"Oh yes," Michael said, "Anyway, as the priests got more and more into these foreign religions, the more and more they started to resent their own Animistic beliefs. Many of them converted to other religions, practicing in secret. Now I'm sure you've heard that it was Moshoshug's greed that angered the ancestors, am I right?"

The KND operatives all nodded again.

"Yes well this was not the case," Michael said with a chuckle, "see, the ancestors, knowing and seeing all, found out about these priests and decided to punish them."

"By sinking the city?" Michelle guessed.

"Correct," Michael approved, "but here's where the buggers get cheeky. Having predicted their impending doom, the high priest fled, leaving the rest of the Basugian Empire to suffer for their sins, sneaky buggers. Basugian texts and scripts have been found all over Africa and the rest of the world; Timbuktu, Zimbabwe, even as far off as East Asia and the Americas. The priests themselves just faded away, blending into their new surroundings."

"And that was the end of the Basuga?" Michelle asked.

"The end of the Basuga," Michael said closing his eyes and nodding, "but not if we find this city."

"Speaking of which..." Nigel said turning to Hoagie.

"Oh right, I've checked over all of Father's previous movements and cross referenced them with our latest satellite images and have found exactly where Father thinks the found the city's entrance is," Hoagie said beaming.

"Excellent!" Michael chimed, finishing off the last of his plate of food, "we can discuss that tomorrow."

"Whoa," Abby said looking at her watch, "4pm already? We gotta be gettin' back."

"No, I cannot allow it," Michael said sternly but with a grin, "you simply have to stay the night."

"Well, I don't know…" Nigel said hesitantly, "the others are expecting us. What do you think Numbuh 664?"

"I do not see why we can't," the African leader replied, "why, it would be rude not to."

"Fantastic!" Michael exclaimed almost leaping from his seat, "I have someone show you to some rooms. Dinner can't and won't be too heavy after a lunch like this, but I'll think of something."

Abby leaned over to Natalie who had remained silent until then;

"Is he always…"

"Oh, yeah," Natalie sighed, an unimpressed look on her face, "so get used to it."

* * *

**I'll try to update sooner this time. Reviews are nice. I like reviews.**

**Dark**Mike


	9. Old friends, New Enemies

**This weekend I watched the movie ** _**Country of My Skull** _ **, it's about the time just after the Apartied ended in South Africa when those victimized by the South African Security Forces came forward and retold their accounts before a council. Pretty scary stuff, I mean I was born 1994 so I was never around to hear or see this stuff, makes you ashamed to be white. Samuel L. Jackson played the part of the American writer for the Washington Post and this other chick played the Afrikaaner reporter for SABC (South African Broadcasting Company) and no offence but hearing an American trying to speak in a South African accent is one of the funniest things I've ever heard, think Leonardo De Caprio in ** _**Blood Diamonds** _ **.**

**Anyhoo, on with the story…**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Old friends, New Enemies and a Little Too Much Soda**

_Two years earlier _

"And don't worry," Abby called mockingly to her sister, "I'll keep your CD's and your boyfriend, nice and safe!"

Cree just grumbled as she was led onto a KND prisoner transport by Numbuh 92 and 93. Wally glanced at Hoagie who seemed to be tearing.

"Are you crying?!" he accused in disbelief.

"No," Hoagie resorted with a sniff, "I have something in my eye."

The large ship roared as it slowly lifted off the hangar floor and rocketed off, leaving the five operatives of sector V alone.

"Numbuh 2, that machine needs to be destroyed," Nigel said turning to the chubby pilot.

"But it works!" Hoagie exclaimed, "If it could do that to a child imagine what it could do to a hamster."

"That's an age-afiyer," Nigel said sternly, "Do I need to remind you of the last time a device like that got into the wrong hands."

"Just let me run some tests," Hoagie pleaded, "and if it doesn't have the desired effect I'll scrap it immediately."

Nigel looked thoughtful.

"Fine," he eventually said, "but I want a report on the results ASAP."

"Yes!" Hoagie shouted, thrusting a fist in the air.

"Right," Nigel said with a grin, "I've still gotta win my soda back Numbuh 4, Yipper Air Strike 4?"

"Yer on," Wally said, "but there ain't no way yer beating me!"

_A few hours later _

Hoagie knocked nervously on his leader's door.

"Come in," Nigel's voice came form the other side of the door.

Hoagie peeked in.

"Hey boss," he said, "hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Not at all," Nigel said with a smile, "just finishing up the mission report."

Hoagie's heart almost stopped.

"Y-you haven't submitted it yet, have you?" he asked, his nervousness rushing back.

"Nope," Nigel said picking up a file and handing it to Hoagie, "give an once-over, you know I'm not the best speller."

"Operation K.I.S.S.?" Hoagie said looking at the file's title.

"Kid's Identity Suddenly Sixteen," Nigel said proudly, "didn't even use the Super-Cool Name-a-nator program for that one."

"Yeah, Numbuh 1, that's what I came up here to talk to you about," Hoagie said rubbing the back of his neck, "do you think you could not submit this mission report?"

"But KND regulation code 15673b states that all accounts concerning know enemies of the Kids Next Door has to be documented," Nigel said giving his friend a curious look, "I have to."

"Yeah, I know," Hoagie said sighing, "but this won't look good on my permanent record, so could you not, just this once."

"I dunno," Nigel said looking thoughtful again.

"Please, Nigel," Hoagie pleaded, "don't do it for Numbuh 2, but Hoagie?"

Nigel was slightly taken back by the mention of their real names.

"Ok," he said taking the file from Hoagie, "I'll write a new one; I'll say we were attacked by Cree and we managed to subdue her."

"Hey thanks, boss," Hoagie said grinning, "See, there's hope for you yet."

Hoagie turned and left, closing the door behind him. Nigel glanced at the door and then the file in his hand.

"No there isn't," he said quietly.

* * *

_Present time, Dennis Manor, Karoo, South Africa _

Nigel pushed the oak door to Michael's study open and peered inside.

"Dr. Dennis?" he called inside.

"Nigel!" the overenthusiastic brit exclaimed, "do come in, I have some-one I want you to meet."

Nigel stepped in the room. It was late in the evening and they had just finished dinner. The fireplace on the east wall glowed orange giving the room a comforting and warm atmosphere. Nigel sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk which Michael sat behind. Nigel jumped as a large hand fell onto his shoulder. He grabbed it and with lightning-quick reflexes, brought the hand, and body attached, over his head, crashing it onto the desk.

The figure gave a hearty laugh, "It has been long time since Moosk had his butt kick-ed like that!"

"Moosk?!" Nigel exclaimed.

"Comrade 1," Moosk said up righting himself, "is good to see you still having fighting spirit."

"So you two know each other?" Michael asked.

"Know him? This guy saved my neck," Nigel said beaming.

"Only before Comrade 1 saved Moosk from life as accountant."

"Fabulous!" Michael exclaimed, "This means introductions are unnecessary."

"What are you doing here?" Nigel asked as the large Russian sat down.

"Moosk was tracking vicious Southern African Rock Tie-thon," Moosk explained, "when he get call from Comrade Dennis."

"I met Moosk four years ago in Siberia," Michael added, "I heard he was in the area so I gave him a call, I figured he would be of help to the expedition."

"Hell yeah!" Nigel said happily, "would you?"

"Of coarse Moosk will help, Comrade 1!" Moosk laughed, grabbing Nigel's hand and shaking, "Is funny, yes? How tables have turned. Moosk first seek Comrade 1's help now Comrade 1 seek Moosk's help."

"Hilarious," Nigel said with a chuckle.

* * *

_Elsewhere in the Manor _

Abby, Hoagie and Michelle stood silently on the balcony to the room the girls were sharing. It was now completely dark and a chilling breeze swept across the three operatives.

"Shit its cold," Hoagie said with a shiver, "you sure we were supposed to meet here?"

"The note said to meet here," Michelle said pulling the scrap of paper out again.

There was a small 'ahem' and the three turned to see a small raven haired maid standing behind them.

"Hey, you're that maid form earlier," Hoagie said, "Frankie?"

"Francis," the girl corrected him.

"Did you leave us this note?" Abby asked.

"Yes," Francis said, "you are the ones who are leaving, right?"

"Yeah," Hoagie said, "that's us; then you're our contact?"

"Yes, He sent me," Francis said with a nod.

"He?" Abby said in a confused tone.

"The one who is assisting you," Francis said, "my father."

"You're his child?" Abby asked.

"All are his children," Francis said.

Abby and Hoagie gave each other a look. Michelle remained silent.

The young brunette handed each of them a bracelet. It was almost like her own; consisting of a chain of gold and silver rings with a small sapphire after every two in the sequence, but only the moon hung form the chain, the sun was missing.

"This is your ticket to paradise, my friends," Francis continued, "you guy's are scheduled to be returning from the expedition in a weeks time, you will be extracted then."

"And after that?" Hoagie asked.

"You will be taken to him and given the choice," Francis said.

'What choice?" Abby queried.

"I can't say," Francis said shaking her head, "Anyway I gotta go; my break is only 10 minutes long."

"Wait," Hoagie said quickly, "if you say these are our tickets to paradise, then why do _you_ live like this?"

"I made my choice," Francis said staring at her feet, she then looked up at the KND operatives, "but don't worry, He has special plans for you three."

The girl left, leaving behind three very confused 12 year olds.

* * *

_The following morning, Sector S tree-house _

"Morning sunshine," Dean said mockingly as Wally walked into the kitchen, "sleep well?"

"Shut it," Wally grumbled.

"Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Sibenzile teased.

"Aw," Dean said, pretending to look hurt, "don't tell me we aren't best-buds anymore, Wallykins."

Wally spun around to glare at the obnoxious South African.

"You better watch yer…" Wally began to say but was cut off by Kuki walking in.

"Morning everyone!" she chirped, she had a Rainbow Monkey tucked under her arm, "I hope everyone slept as well and me and my 'Sleeping in Africa' Rainbow Monkey."

The doorbell rang before anyone could respond.

"I'll get it," Dean said getting up form his bowl of Frosties.

He opened the door to see a tall African man staring down at him.

"Inspector Mbala," Dean said, surprised, "what are you doing here so early?"

"Good Morning, Dean," the man said, "sorry to disturb so early, but we received anonymous tip-off that the Kids Next Door were harboring some illegal substances on these premises, we just want to have a look around."

Sibenzile shot a death glare at Wally.

"_Crap,"_ he thought.

"Well, Inspector," Dean said handing the police officer a R200 note, "now would not be the best time. Could we maybe reschedule?"

The African man snatched up the bribe.

"Well, considering the great help the Kids Next Door has been to the South African Police Services," he said rather loudly, so that all the officers standing behind him could hear, "I will take your word for it, that there are no illegal substances within this Tree-House."

"You have my word, Inspector," Dean said with a smile. He closed the door and also shot a glare at Wally.

"Who was that, Numbuh 662?" Kuki called through a mouthful of Rainbow Munchies.

"Our Neighbor," Dean said smiling, "just warning us that Mr. Mekelene's car headlights are on."

"Hey, Numbuh 3," Tasmin, of whom Wally had just noticed had been in the room the whole time, said, "Could you pop downstairs and let him know, I think he's taken a liking to you, and that can't be said for the rest of us."

"Okay!" the Raven-haired girl said happily, and skipped out the room humming something.

All eyes fixed on Wally. The Australian tried to get up to leave but was quickly seized and pinned to a wall by Dean and Sibenzile, who was stronger than she looked. Tasmin got up from were she was sitting and strolled over to look the struggling blond in the face.

"Wally, Wally, Wally," she said with a sigh, "what are we going to do with you?"

"Hey, just a tip," Dean said into Wally's ear, "if you wanna bust someone down here, never go to the cops, they're more corrupt then we are."

SIbenzile sniggered.

"Y'know, I thought our deal was fair," Tasmin said thoughtfully, then she grinned, "But if you wanna go back on your part, then I guess we'll have to go back on ours."

"I swear," Wally seethed, "if you do anything to her…"

"Sshh," Tasmin said placing a finger over his lips, "No, no, no, fair is fair."

They heard Kuki's cheerful voice echoing toward them.

"Now not a word," Tasmin said leaning to speak into his ear, "unless you wanna make matters worse."

They let him go and returned to their seats at the table just as Kuki walked in.

"I think you're right, Numbuh 660," Kuki said, "I think Mr. Mekelene does like me, he even let me have one of the cookies he was eating with his coffee."

"See," Tasmin said as if nothing was wrong, "but I think it's very hard for anyone to dislike you, isn't that right, Numbuh 4."

Wally remained silent. He hadn't moved from the wall. Kuki looked at him, waiting for an answer, a very cute and questioning look on her face. He couldn't help but smile.

"Defiantly," he said.

Kuki gushed and rushed over to give him a hug, and for the first time, he actually hugged back.

He wasn't going to let anything happen to her. That was a promise.

* * *

_Father's Lair, somewhere in southern Africa _

"We will meet you at these coordinates," Vuyani's voice came from the speakers of one of the many monitors in Father's office. Father himself watched with narrowed eyes.

"Perfect," Michael said taking the map from him.

"What about you Moosk?" Nigel asked, "I'd love for you to come and meet the others."

"No, Moosk will stay with Comrade Dennis," Moosk said giving Nigel a pat on the back, "we have much to discuss. But no worry, Comrade 1, I will meet rest of friends soon, yes?"

Father turned it off.

"Hmm," he thought aloud, "this might complicate things slightly."

He turned to the door.

"Harrison!" he barked.

Moments later the small man burst into the office.

"Y-yes sir?" he stuttered.

"Is Agent 9 up yet?" Father asked.

'Yes, sir," Sam said, taking a deep breath, "he was released yesterday."

Father sighed.

"And why wasn't I informed of this?" he said in a calm voice.

Oh, well, um, we, uh…" Harrison tried to find his words, "we-we just figured…"

"You figured?" Father cut him off, "Tell me something Harrison; are you hired to 'figure' things out?"

"Well, uh, no…" Harrison tried to speak again, suddenly regretting not coming in with something to shield himself.

"No, you're not," Father said, cutting him off again, "you are not hired to think or do things for yourself, you are hired to do what I tell you to and think when I tell you to."

"Y-yes s-s-sir," Harrison said preparing himself.

"SO GET AGENT 9 IN HERE NOW!!" Father shouted, erupting into flames.

The blast threw Harrison out of the door and slamming into the far wall of the passage outside the office.

"Sam! Are you okay," the girl behind the counter just outside the door called.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Tina," the middle-aged man said with a smile, "but you know, I think I'm finally getting used to it."

After searching almost the entire base, Harrison found the boy once again coming out of a service passage.

"There you are," he said bending over to catch his breath, "what the hell are you doing in those service passages anyway?"

"Fag," Wayden said.

"Excuse me," Harrison said in a huff, "I am by no means a 'fag'; I have a wife for Christ's sake."

"Chill, bra," the coloured said, "I was having a fag, you know, smoking?"

"Oh, well, yes," Harrison said, slightly embarrassed, "Father want's to see you."

"Lead the way," Wayden said sarcasticly.

Sam hurried off, Wayden following behind. He noticed that some of the little hair left on the man's head was smoking slightly.

"_Lekker," _ Wayden thought sarcastically, _"and here I was worrying about his mood."_

Wayden quickly straightened himself up before entering his employer's office. He knocked lightly on the door.

"You wanted to see me, erm, sir," he said.

"Yes," Father said turning around to face the teen, "I see that you encounter with the Kids Next Door was troubling."

He motioned towards the bandages spread over large portions of Wayden's body.

"Just the crash, sir," Wayden said, "those Americans are real kuk starters."

Father chuckled, "Don't I know it."

His face turned serious.

"You will be able to join the expedition team leaving this afternoon?" he asked.

"Of course sir," Wayden said.

"Excellent," Father said, "Harrison!"

The man was present in a flash.

"Yes sir?"

"Pull up anything you can find on Michael Dennis, Natalie Mc Adams and Moosk Krogonovic."

"Yes sir."

"Right," Father said, content, "that is all."

The two left, leaving Father to his monitors.

Wayden let out a held breath and closed his eyes as he fell back against the wall outside the door.

"You shouldn't be so nervous," a female German accent spoke from the darkness in front of him.

He opened his eyes to see his blond superior standing in front of him. She smiled.

"Pardon?" Wayden asked unsure if he'd heard correctly.

"All I said was zat you don't haff to be so nervous about dealing with Father," Henrietta repeated, "just loosen up, he'll respect you more."

"Thanks," Wayden said, smiling.

Henrietta winked, "Anytime."

She then turned and strolled down the corridor, a certain sashay in her hips.

Wayden watched her go and chuckled. What was it about foreign girls?

* * *

_Later that day, Sector S tree-house _

Nigel, Vuyani, Abby, Michelle and Hoagie walked into the TV room.

"Hey! You guys are back!" Kuki greeted them from the couch.

"Where you guys been?" Wally asked from beside her.

"Our host insisted we stay the night," Nigel said with a sigh.

"Our host insisted everything," Hoagie groaned, "do we really gotta spend a week in the desert with him?"

"Sadly," Abby commented.

"What'd we miss?" Michelle asked.

"Not much," Dean from another couch, "same old, same old."

"Depends on how you define that," Wally muttered.

"What was that," Dean said narrowing his eyes.

"Nuthin," Wally grumbled.

"Hey Numbuh 4, you okay?" Hoagie asked giving him a questioning look.

Wally looked over to Dean who winked.

"Just peachy," Wally said.

"You guys are back, great," Tasmin said walking in, "hey girls, lets chat."

Michelle and Abby headed for the door, Kuki got up to follow and so did Wally. Tasmin placed a hand on his chest and pushed him back down.

"Girls only, Wallykins," she said with a grin.

Wally slumped back into the chair. At least Abby would be with her.

"What was up with that?" Abby asked Kuki as they followed Tasmin down a passage.

"I dunno," Kuki said, "but Numbuh 4's been spending a lot of time with me today."

"Weird," Abby said shaking her head.

"I kind of like it," Kuki said with a giggle.

Back in the entertainment room, Hoagie had flopped onto the couch with Wally.

"Nigel, let us head for my room," Vuyani said, "There is something I must show you."

Hoagie watched the two leaders leave.

"They've been spending a lot of time together recently," Hoagie said with his patented grin, "ya think they're…?"

"I don't know," Dean said grinning too, "never pegged Numbuh 664 for a moffie, what about Numbuh 1?"

"Well he _had _ a girlfriend," Hoagie said chuckling, "she dumped him though."

"Well maybe she found out he batted for the other team," Dean said.

The two of them burst out laughing. Wally remained silent.

"Aw, c'mon dude," Hoagie said, "that was a good one."

"I jus ain't in the mood, alright?" Wally snapped.

"Woke up on the wrong side of bed, I get it," Hoagie mused, "but is it just me or does it seem like the right side of your bed is up against a wall?"

He and Dean laughed again.

"Y'know we should get out and have some fun," Dean suggested, "I know this great soda bar a couple of blocks from here."

"Now you're talking," Hoagie said, "I'm dying for something caffeinated."

"No thanks," Wally said flatly.

"C'mon man," Hoagie said, putting his arm over his friend's shoulders, "you have never said no to a cold one."

He lent in close.

"Kuki'll be fine," he said in a low tone, "she's got Abby with her."

Wally looked up at the pilot who shrugged.

"Fine," he said, "but just one."

* * *

_Two hours later, On-Tap Soda Bar _

"And we're all fightin' for our lives an' this guy, is stuffing his face!" Wally said with a hiccup.

He downed his 16th soda.

"This guy?" one of the boys who were sitting with them said in disbelief, "but he's a toothpick."

"Two words my friend," Hoagie said giggling, his 27th soda in his hand.

"Fat Camp," he and Wally said in unison.

The group roared with laughter as Dean called over a waitress.

"Another!" he said, "For everyone!"

The group cheered.

"Hey," Wally said giggling, "how many have we had?"

"I have no idea" Hoagie said, downing the one in his hand, "I lost count at 9."

"So you ous are from America?" another guy said, "What about Bush?"

"Fuck Bush!" Hoagie shouted.

This time the whole bar cheered.

"And Obama?" somebody else asked.

"The future of our great country," Hoagie said solemnly.

"Hey, your great country," Dean said, "who's the future of our great country?"

"Zuma!!" somebody yelled.

The whole bar roared with laughter. Hoagie and Wally laughed too, even though they didn't get it.

* * *

_Another two hours and another 50+ sodas later, Sector S tree-house _

"Shosholoza! Shosholoza! Ku lezontaba! Stimela siphum' eSouth Africa!" the three very soda-drunk operatives sang as they entered the tree-house. Nigel was in the kitchen getting a snack.

"Nigel!" Wally called, "where are the girls? I have to tell Kuki something very important!"

"They went for a girls night out." He said walking up to them, "are you drunk?"

"Very," Hoagie said.

"Wait," Wally said, starting to sober up very quickly, "Kuki went out with Tasmin and Sibenzile?"

"Yes, _Numbuh 3_ went out with_Numbuh 661 _ and _Numbuh 660_ ," Nigel corrected him, "but Numbuh 5 and Numbuh 663 are with them too."

"_Shit"_ Wally though, realizing what was happening.

"Did they say where they were going?" he asked

"No," Nigel said raising an eyebrow, "why?"

"Ya" Dean said, appearing to be not as drunk as he looked, "why?"

"Why, when, where, who gives a shit?" Hoagie, the only one still drunk, sang as he staggered over to the couch and collapsed into it.

He laughed.

"I am gonna have _such_ a hangover tomorrow," he said with a giggle.

The door opened and Abby and Michelle, stumbled in arm in arm, helping each other to stand. Wally rushed over to them.

"Where's Numbuh 3?" he asked franticly.

"Oh no, we had _way_ more than three," Abby said with a giggle.

"Why is everyone drunk?" Nigel asked in disbelief.

"Abby where is Kuki?" Wally asked again.

"I give up!" Nigel said as he left the room.

"So do I!" Michelle said with a groan, "C'mon, Abs, lets go sit down."

"Will someone please tell me where Kuki is?!" Wally all but shouted

"I'm not sure," Tasmin said walking in with Sibenzile, the two of them completely sober.

"Last place I saw her is when she was flirting with that guy at the bar," Sibenzile mused, "how old did he look?"

"I dunno?" Tasmin said, "14? 15 maybe.

"What?!" Wally exclaimed.

"Yeah, cute too," Sibenzile continued, "she was shy at first, but then he bought her a drink and suddenly, she was all over him."

"I don't believe it!" Wally protested.

"I've got a vid," Tasmin said pulling out her phone.

Wally watched the small screen in complete horror and disbelief.

"Must've taken me seriously when I told them to get a room," Tasmin said coyly, putting the phone back in her pocket, "didn't see them again after that."

"You let her go?!" Wally demanded.

"You shouldn't have messed with us, Wallykins," Tasmin said tracing lines on his chest, "we did warn you…"

* * *

**That was fun, especially the first bit. I love adding background stories to things. Review please. (I asked nicely.)**

**Dark** Mike


	10. Awakening

Next chappie up…

**Ok, weird chapter. There is no running mood, so prepare to have your emotions screwed with.**

**Chapter 10: Awakening**

_Location Unknown_

Kuki's eyes slowly opened. She was lying in a bed, that she was sure of, but she defiantly wasn't at home. Her head was pounding and her vision was blurred. She sat and shook her head, only to notice an absence of covering over her chest as the duvet slipped off. She let out a gasp and quickly snatched them back up to cover herself. Her eyes finally came into focus as the very confused 12 year old tried to make sense of her surroundings. She was in a small room, the furniture consisting simply of the bed she was sitting in, a mini fridge and small TV. Her clothes were scattered throughout the room. Her eyes widened in horror as she realized what was happening. She quickly shoved her hand under the covers and felt around a bit, letting out a sigh of relief. At least those were still on. She slowly got up and gathered her clothes, putting them on. Panic had subdued and she quietly began to sob. Once fully clothed she found her handbag and taking out the mustard blaster she kept just in case, Kuki then searched the rest of the small apartment, not finding a sole about. She tried the door to find it unlocked. She clambered into the hall, walking quickly towards the stairs. Once outside the building she remembered her cell phone. Pulling it out, she dialed the only number she could.

_Sector S tree-house_

"_From the top to the bottom! Bottom to top I stop. At the core I've forgotten! In the middle of my thoughts. Taken far form my safety! The picture's there. The memory won't escape me! But why should I care. There's a place so dark…"_

Wally jerked up, answering the cell already in his hand.

"Hello?" he said holding his head, despite the fact he had sobered up after hearing about Kuki's disappearance, it didn't stop the hangover.

"Wally?" came Kuki's shaky voice.

"Kuki!" Wally exclaimed waking up completely, "Are you ok? Where are you?"

"Wally, I don't know what happened to me!" Kuki shouted over the phone bursting into tears.

The young Aussie's blood ran cold.

"Kuki stay exactly where you are, d'you hear me?" he said already making his way out the room, "I'm coming to get you."

Kuki just sniffed in reply. Wally burst into the lounge area to find the three drunken operatives still sprawled out over the seating. He ran over to Hoagie and nudged him.

"Hoags, wake up," he said nudging him again, but the pilot wouldn't stir. Wally let out a sigh of frustration, and then noticed the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. keys hanging out of Hoagie's pocket. Snatching them up, he raced towards the hanger.

"My, my, aren't we in a rush," a voice came from behind him.

Wally spun to glare at his observer. Tasmin just smiled.

"Don't start your shit with me," Wally snarled.

"Oh ya," the coloured girl said, "you've got to find your beloved, and you have no idea of her whereabouts."

"I'll find her," Wally seethed, "If I have to search this whole goddamned continent."

"I'll save you some troubled then," Tasmin smirked, "corner of Ibsen and Gallus, Konica Motel, use the ship's GPS."

Wally stood to give her one final glare, before spinning round and pacing it down the corridor. Tasmin could only smile.

_Back in the living room_

Abby was awake. She didn't open eyes, but she didn't want to. Despite a small headache, she was comfortable and warm, that's all she knew, and that's all she cared about. She rolled over to face the mass of warmth beside her and snuggled into it, embracing the somehow familiar smell of mint aerosol. Something fell around her waist as the warm mass sighed.

"Erm, could you get off my hand," the mass mumbled.

"Yeah, sure," Abby mumbled back, absentmindedly.

She raised her body slightly so the arm could be pulled out from underneath her. It then moved to rest alongside her. She was now staring the mass in the face. She could feel it's breath on her own face and again it was familiar, but something deep inside her told her she didn't care. Then it all came rushing back. Her heart almost stopped. The mass had also seemed to make the same conclusion because it stopped breathing.

"_Oh please no,"_ Abby pleaded to herself.

"Hoagie?" she asked in a squeaky voice.

"Abby?" came the horrified reply.

Both operatives' eyes shot open at the same time, to reveal the fact that their faces were millimeters apart. They let out a gasp and sat up, knocking their heads in the process.

"Owww!" they both cried out as the previous evening took its revenge.

"Wha-what?" Michelle mumbled from the coffee-table where she had spent the night, before clutching her own head, "Owww."

She rubbed her eyes to look at the two operatives before her, still entangled with one another on the couch. A huge grin spread across her face.

"Did you guys spend the night on the couch together?" she asked mockingly.

Numbuh 2 and 5 blushed furiously.

"Well, we um," Hoagie tried to say.

"Must've partied too hard last night," Abby said to finish his sentence, "we had no control of our actions, I mean, look at you; you slept on a coffee table."

"No control?" Michelle giggled, "in that case _who knows_ what might've happened last night."

Numbuh 2 and 5 blushed even harder, realizing they had just dug themselves a deeper grave. The red-head was now in fits, long dismounted from her coffee-table/seat/bed. Abby and Hoagie untangled themselves, not making eye contact. Michelle sat up from the floor.

"I should thank you guys," she said, still chuckling, "I've never lost a hangover so fast."

_Within_

Father was in the dark. He didn't know where he was or how he got there, but he knew it was dark, very dark. Father tried to conjure a flame to give him some light, but he couldn't. So he began to walk, stumbling as he did.

"Be-en," a voice teased from behind him in a hoarse whisper.

Father spun around only to find darkness in his wake.

"Benedict," the same voice came from his left.

"Who's there?" Father demanded.

"Benny," the voice came again, this time right next to his ear.

Father let out a majorly OOC yelp and shut his eyes. When he opened them again he was sitting in grey office. Before him was a long oak table and seated down each side where six middle-aged men, all in suits. Father himself was in 'human' form, his dark silluette gone. At the head of the table sat an older man, his pointy grey beard looking almost white against his dark suit and red tie. An amused grin hung below the man's crooked nose. Father narrowed his eyes.

"Real funny, dad," he said.

The old man gave a chuckle.

"Aw, c'mon Benny-boy," Grandfather smiled, "you know I love to screw with your head, besides, you've always been afraid of the dark."

"That's real fatherly of you, pops," Father sneered.

"Fatherly? Ha! Me? HA!" the aged man taunted.

"So what's with the theme?" Father commented looking around, "What do you call this? Gloomy Office Drag?"

"Well, you know me; I like to be professional about these kind of things," Grandfather said.

"And them?" Father asked motioning his thumb to the nearest businessman.

"They're just for effect," Grandfather said with a shrug.

He grabbed the one nearest to him and threw through a window, the man screamed as he fell to his doom. Father looked back at the man's seat to find him sitting there once more. The window was also suddenly intact.

"See?"

"Ok, ok, I get it," Father said nodding in approval, he then turned to his father, "so what do you want?"

"Want?" Grandfather said looking shocked, "Is a man not allowed to pay his own son a visit? I mean, you never do, so if I have to make the move to get some kind of connection between us, then I will."

He paused for a moment to catch his son's reaction.

"Not working," Father said, unimpressed.

"Fine," the older Uno said with a sigh, "but if your mother asks, I tried, alright?"

"Deal," Father said.

"Right," Grandfather said, stroking his beard, "as you know, it has been a good thirty years since I passed the Power of Fatherhood onto you, so I'm simply here to tell you that it's time for you to choose an heir to your power."

"What?" Father exclaimed.

"Don't worry," Grandfather assured him, "retirement is great, golf everyday, no work, and some pretty fine nurses, if you know what I mean."

"But you kept your power well after age 42," Father argued.

"I kept my power for so long because I put it to good use," Grandfather replied, his voice becoming stern, "I enslaved all of kid-kind, you on the other hand have done nothing to prove you worth."

"What about the Great Time Out?" Father cried in desperation, "I banished all children to the moon!"

"Yes, but not only did you welcome them back, but you then allowed the KND to reform and have not been able to rid yourself of them since," Grandfather said slumping back into his chair, "The Great Time Out was good, Benny, but you screwed it up."

Father sat in silence for a moment.

"Who the hell am I supposed to choose as my heir?" he finally asked, "I have no kids!"

"You mean those five creepy kids with the blue eyes aren't yours?" Grandfather asked in a confused tone.

"They're a brainwashed KND sector," Father said crossing his arms.

"That explains a lot," the old man said thoughtfully, "I always wondered why I was never introduced to the mother. But weren't you due to be married to that Norwegian girl? What was her name? Louis?"

"Louise," Father said rolling his eyes, "and that didn't work out, I thought mom told you."

"That woman never tells me anything," Grandfather grumbled.

"Anyway, that's beside the point," Father said waving his arms about, "I have no kids, so how am I supposed to choose an heir?"

"You have a nephew," Grandfather said with a smirk.

"Nigel Uno?!" Father almost laughed, "You're joking right?"

"I'm dead serious," Grandfather said chuckling.

"Have you lost your mind?" Father asked tapping his forehead, "That goody-goody would never do anything to oppose his precious Kids Next Door."

"Power does strange things to people, Ben," Grandfather mused, "just look at you."

"I still refuse to hand my power over to my worst enemy," Father pouted, crossing his arms, "It defies the laws of nature."

"Oh stop it," Grandfather said with a frown, slightly irritated by his son's childish behavior, "tell you what, the powers that be are pretty impressed with your current operation, pull it off and we'll add an extra twenty years or so to your contract."

"Fine," Father grumbled.

"But Benny…" Grandfather was suddenly right in his face, "don't screw this up."

Father opened his eyes. He was sitting in his office, slouched in the chair behind his desk. He rubbed his eyes and pressed the small button one his intercom.

"Yes sir?" Harrison's quivering voice crackled through the speaker.

"Harrison, would you step in here for a moment," Father said politely.

He heard Harrison gulp.

"Yes sir."

Harrison slipped in and crept towards the desk.

"Y-you w-wanted to see me, sir?" he stuttered.

"Yes," Father said smiling.

He flicked his hand suddenly, blasting poor Sam out of the room with a fire ball.

"Much better," Father said with a sigh.

"Glad I could help, sir," Harrison squeaked as the door shut.

_Sector S, Medical ward waiting room_

Nigel was baffled. How? How had this all happened? A year ago he had a perfect team, one of the most respected in the KND, with an impeccable mission record and the only thorn in his side being Numbuh 363 and Sector W. But somehow, everything had started going downhill; Lizzie breaking up with him, the internal investigation on his sector and what he figured was the loss of his two best friends. But these all seemed irrelevant to the current happenings. He glanced around the room, only Abby, Hoagie, Wally and Vuyani were present. Abby and Hoagie sat in silence together and Vuyani did the same while Wally was pacing a rut in the tiled floor. He looked the worst of all of them, but who could blame him? He hadn't gotten a minute of sleep the night before, and his crush was, well, y'know.

"_Welcome to the KND News Network, I'm Numbuh 12."_

"_And I'm Numbuh 31."_

"_Our top story today was meant to be a segment on the illustrious Sector V, documenting their triumphs as they celebrate their 5__th__ year as a sector, but, a recent set of events has caused us to run a different segment." _

Everyone's attention turned to the mounted TV in the far corner of the room.

"_Nigel Uno, Hoagie P. Gilligan II, Kuki Sanban, Wallabee Beatles and Abigail Lincoln, Numbuhs 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, or, Sector V of the Kids Next Door. Whatever you choose to call them, form the moment these five were a team, they began raising the bar for KND operatives everywhere. From early triumphs like destroying the Age-a-fiyer, to history making accomplishments such as defeating Grandfather, these five are undoubtedly some of the best.This is why the kid community was so shocked when global command issued an internal investigation of the sector."_

"_Rumors began flying about that Numbuhs 2 and 5 were involved in the attempt to crash the decommissioning of former Global Tactics Officer Numbuh 86 by supplying inside information to the TEENZ. In the end, nothing was found, but that didn't stop suspensions from being raised. It was even said that global command had put a tail on the two suspected operatives. Sightings of Numbuhs 2 and 5 meeting with strange figures, purchasing illegal tech and even leaving the country stirred even more excitement."_

"_In what appears to be an attempt to see if the sector is still worth it's while, GC then assigned them to the operation that was being turned down by so many other sectors; the reattempt to find the Lost City of the Basuga, codenamed Operation A.F.R.I.C.A it has so far proven to be one of their toughest mission, the worst of which being Numbuh 1's leg wound which was caused by, get this, a gun, and they haven't even reached the desert yet."_

"_But things reached a whole new level last night. We have just received Intel that Numbuh 3 was abducted last night while out at a club in South Africa. She had been out with Numbuh 5 and two other operatives from the shady Sector S, who have also recently been under the GC spotlight."_

"_Now I don't wanna sound bitchy, but I can almost guarantee there was a large amount of soda involved."_

"_Luckily the flirt of Sector V was located and rescued this morning. Details are shady, but it's being said that she was most likely…"_

"Just shut it off," Wally sneered as he turned away from the small screen.

Vuyani turned the set off and looked over at Nigel, who was deep in thought. The African boy got up from where he was sitting and made his way over to the quiet brit.

"You seem troubled, my friend," he said placing a hand on Nigel's shoulder.

"Hmm?" Nigel said looking up, "oh, Numbuh 646, no I'm fine, just trying to figure out what I'm going to tell Numbuh 362, she's not going to be happy."

"That is an understatement," Vuyani smiled, "do not worry, you seem to know how to butter her up."

"Please don't start with that again," Nigel said with a tired smile.

Vuyani just laughed.

"It is not a bad thing you know," he said, "sometimes it is good to have friends in high places."

The ward doors swung open as Tasmin walked out, pulling at pair of latex gloves. Everyone stood to meet her.

"And?" Wally asked.

"Well, nothing dodgy happened," Tasmin sighed, "I was able to pull some DNA and put it through B.O.G.A.S, but she did get quite a scare."

She stared at Wally as she finished the sentence. Wally glared back, his eyes narrowed.

"You can go in and see her if you want," she said turning back to the rest of the group.

She started towards the door. As the others went inside, Wally just watched her leave. Sensing his glare Tasmin looked back over her shoulder, giving the Aussie a wink before walking through the doors. Wally swore under his breath before pushing through the doors. Kuki was sitting upright, propped up by a number of pillows. Her favorite Rainbow Monkey sat beside her, which was already strange; it was usually wedged between her arms. Kuki herself wasn't looking too good, the shock and fear had evolved into fatigue, which was evident on every aspect of her face and her usually picture perfect hair had lost its sheen, with a few loose strands lying over her face. Abby held Kuki's right hand in her own, massaging it with her thumb.

"You okay?" she asked.

"I'll be fine," Kuki replied with a faint smile, "I just need some rest."

"Will you still be able to join the expedition?" Nigel asked.

Abby gave him a death glare. Kuki laughed a bit.

"Its fine Abs," she said, "Yes, I will."

"Jeez, and I thought I over did it," Hoagie said in a surprised tone.

Kuki grabbed the top of his shirt, yanking the pilot to meet her face.

"Shut it, fly-boy," she said harshly, "I don't need your crap right now."

She pushed the goggled boy away, sending him stumbling.

"Well," Nigel said sensing the need to leave, "I think we should all let Numbuh 3 get some rest."

He turned to the door and led out, followed by the rest of the team. Kuki rolled over to sleep, the Rainbow Monkey falling off the bed. She didn't even bother to pick it up.

_A rooftop somewhere on the Sector S tree-house_

Michelle's feet dangled off the edge of the gutter she sat over, her fiery hair blowing ever so slightly in the cool breeze. In front of her was the Glencrain valley, crusted with white beach, which was met by the dark blue water of the Atlantic. The sun was starting to dip ever so slightly in the afternoon sky as a few lonely clouds drifted overhead. She let out a satisfied sigh.

"Y'know," a voice said from behind her, "of all the reasons to wanna leave this place, I think this kind of thing is the only reason there are still white people in this country."

Michelle giggled as her boyfriend came to sit next to her.

"That, and our rugby team," she said as he pulled her into him.

Dean smiled as the two sat in silence. After a while Michelle spoke up.

"Nothing happened to her, right?" she asked in a quiet voice looking up at him.

Dean sighed and smiled.

"No, Tasmin said she got Riaan from down the street to do it," he explained, "the guy apparently wet himself when he found out she wasn't wearing a bra."

Michelle gave the brown haired boy a look.

"Major make-out session, lots of touchy-feely, but that's it," he promised.

"You know I don't like what you three are doing," Michelle said returning her gaze to the sea.

"And I know you know its not that bad," Dean replied, "Sibz and I wanna cut you in."

"We tried that, remember?" Michelle said darkly, "Johan Fontein?"

"Ya, ya," Dean waved it off, "anyway, what's happing between you, the black girl and the pilot?"

"Hey, you have you hidden agenda, I have mine," the red-head said, silencing him with a light kiss.

"It's not going to work, you know," Dean said, "one day this is all gonna blow up horribly in our faces, we're gonna have to wake up and smell the roses sooner or later."

"But for now, it's still too fun," Michelle said with a sly grin.

**Alright, alright, I know no-one cares for OC fluff, but I couldn't help myself. **

**Oh, and 500 points to whoever can guess Wally's ringtone.**

**We need you. Write a review, inspire an author. Only you can make a difference.**

**Dark**Mike


	11. Breaking Point

**Hey guys. SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT!! But, yes, after two months of inactivity, I'm back! And I'm moved!Whci is the reason for my absence, my PC's been a a box for this whole time. (We had to wait for the internet line to be installed, long story...)**

**SO…**

**This should mean my updates will be on a regular flow.**

* * *

**Chapter 11: ****Breaking Point**

_Rietfontein, Northern Cape, South Africa_

The parking lot of the small motel buzzed with activity; laborers running left and right loading this and packing that while the operatives of sectors V and S scattered through out the turmoil, overseeing and checking. The sector leaders sat in room 223a with Dean and a local guide.

"Once we cross the border it's a four day drive to where Father has set up camp," Vuyani explained, "we'll be going into the heart of the Kalahari basin. We can stop at Tsane for a refuel but that will be it, we're in the middle of the dry season, there won't be much water anywhere."

"Ek dink julle is lekker mal," the guide said, speaking fluent Afrikaans, "maar as jy wil dit doen, kan jy nie vlieg nie?"

Nigel gave Dean a confused look.

"He says we're crazy and asks why we can't fly there," Dean translated.

"No," Nigel said studying the map, "Father will be expecting us to fly in. By coming in by land we'll take him by surprise."

"Father sal dit veronderstel," Dean said to the guide.

"Doen wat jy sal doen," the guide said with a sigh, "Maar ek kan nie verstaan hoekom nie.

"Dankie oom, dit is al," Dean said shaking the man's hand.

The Afrikaner stood and left, giving Vuyani a sneer as he did. Nigel noticed this and looked over at Vuyani who smiled and shook his head slowly.

"Numbuh 464, what was that all about?" Nigel asked watching through the doorway as the man entered his pickup truck, something he kept referring to as a 'bukkie'.

The African boy chuckled again.

"He does not like the idea of working under a black," he said with a smile.

"That's racist!" Nigel exclaimed.

"No, really?" Dean said sarcastically.

"Numbuh 1, tell me. Is there racism in your country?" Vuyani asked, still amused.

"Well, yes," Nigel said.

"So then why shouldn't there be racism here?"

Nigel looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Well didn't you guys have that whole1994 thing?" he answered eventually.

"Just because the country changed, Nigel, does not mean everyone changed with it, there where lots of people were not happy with the fall of the Apartheid," Vuyani said giving a laugh at the end.

He leaned in closer so Dean couldn't hear him.

"Especially the Afrikaners," he said grinning.

* * *

_Outside_

A jet black J.E.E.P….

Kids Next Door:

J.E.E.P:

J ustly

E fficient

E very-surface

P atroller

…. pulled into the motel parking lot. Two smartly dressed 11-year-olds stepped out and looked around. Michelle approached them, followed by Wally and Kuki.

"Can I help you?" she asked politely.

"Yes," the male one said, "I'm Special Agent Numbuh 990 and this is my partner, Special Agent Numbuh 457. We're with the KND Internal Investigation Bureau …"

"Oh no," Wally said stepping in front of Michelle, "We're doing fine 'ere, we don't need no big-shot IIB agents screwing with things."

"We have a federal warrant allowing our interference with this mission," Agent 457 stated flatly, her face showing no emotion, "please take us to your sector leaders."

Hoagie ran over to Abby and pulled her behind one of their own J.E.E.Ps.

"Whet the hell are you doin' boy?" she demanded.

"Shhh," Hoagie hissed, he pointed over the hood of the J.E.E.P.

Abby peeked over and then shot back down again.

"IIB? Why are they here so soon?" she asked franticly.

"I don't know," Hoagie said thoughtfully, "Numbuh 362 must have released that report."

He peeked back over to see the two agents speaking to Nigel.

"This is ridiculous," he was saying, "we have full pardon of all investigation until the completion of this mission, and besides that, we have said all we have to say, the only next thing we can do is in court."

"New information has come to light," Agent 990 said, "Have you or any of your team been personally approached by Father?"

"No," Nigel said, looking confused, "we haven't seen him personally since Indonesia, why? What's going on?"

Nothing you need to be concerned about," Agent 990 said with a fake smile, "We just need to speak with Mr. Gilligan and Ms. Lincoln for a few minutes and we'll be on our way."

Hoagie looked over at the second female Agent, she was looking right back at him.

"Shit," he cursed diving back down,"we gotta get out of here."

"Well I have no idea where they…" Nigel began to say.

"There!" Agent 457 cut him off pointing at the J.E.E.P. where Hoagie and Abby were hidden.

Abby and Hoagie sprung up, each running in a different direction.

"Sector S! Go after Abby!" Agent Numbuh 990 instructed, "The rest of Sector V with us! Let's go!"

Abby sprinted into the veld while Hoagie made a break up the small town's main road. Abby ducked and weaved using the tree's and bushes as cover. She paused for a second behind a large thorn bush.

"Wait! Abby!" Michelle called panting, "You can stop! We're not gonna take you in!"

Abby hesitated for a moment, before stepping out from behind the bush.

"What about them?" she asked pointing at Sebenzile, Dean and Tasmin.

"They're cool," Michelle said.

"Yeah," Sibenzile said, "we don't know why the IIB want you and why you ran, but we don't care, so long as Michelle says it's cool."

Abby let out a held breath.

"Good," she said.

"You wait here," Michelle said, "we'll go back and tell them we lost you, I'll let you know when the coast is clear."

Abby nodded and the South Africans turned and walked back to camp.

* * *

_Main Street, Reitfontein _

Hoagie dived behind another car as another blast from a laser rifle singed the air behind him. The streets were empty; it was a Sunday and everyone was at church. He had had no idea that the agents were armed. He waited for a moment before dashing out again, but this time a blast made contact with his arm. He cried out in pain as he ducked behind a VW Golf.

"Try not to hurt him," Kuki complained.

Hoagie looked around him, his left was blocked by a large department store, his right was the street, and if he ran down the sidewalk he would be exposed with no further cover, in short, he was cornered. Suddenly an idea struck him.

Wally, Kuki and the agents slowly approached the car.

"Careful now," Agent 990 said, as they crept up.

The car shuddered a bit and the group stopped.

"What the…" Kuki began to say.

The engine suddenly roared to life as the car skidded towards them. Agent 990 and 457 dived to the left and Wally pulled Kuki to the right. The car careened down the street for a few more meters before smashing into the side of a parked truck. Somehow the engine caught fire and moments later the car and truck were enveloped in a massive fire ball. Flaming debris rained down as the four KND operatives stumbled to their feet. Hoagie was nowhere to be seen.

"Well what the crud was THAT all about?!" Wally shouted, looking questioningly at the Agents.

"That's what we want to know," 457 said looking at her partner.

_Back at the Motel_

'Why did you hold me back?" Nigel demanded, "We should be with our teams."

"I needed to take this opportunity to tell you something vitally important," Vuyani said his face dead serious.

"What," Nigel asked raising an eyebrow.

"Last night, before we left, I mentioned to my father that we were looking into the Lost City of the Basuga, he grew up in a tribal village not far from where are now so he knows his fair share of African folklore, he said that he was told that within the city lies not just the largest wealth of candy the world has ever know, but something else of far greater power. He was not sure of the exact details, but from he could tell me this thing had the destructive power to tear entire nations apart. If this is what Father is actually after, the entire world could be at stake."

Nigel was speechless, his eyes wide behind his dark glasses.

"If this is true," he finally managed to say, "Father is almost a week into his expedition by now, it may already be too late."

* * *

_Intercepting Signal… _

"This is Topside calling Frankfurter, come in."

"Frankfurter?!" Vot ze hell is zat supposed to mean you incompetent imbecile! My codename is Marzipan, MARZIPAN!!"

"Jeez, sorry, I'm hungry and you're, well, German, I think, wait, are you?"

"Forget it! Didn't you haff something to call about."

"I'm thinking meatball sandwiches, or maybe a…."

"Vot ze crap is wrong with you! I demand that someone with a least an ounce of intelligence is put on ze line, and zis buffoon put through a shredder!"

"Hey Martin, could you come run this check, she's being a bitch."

"VOT!! Ven I get hands on you, you vill vish you had never crossed Henrietta von…"

"Marzipan this Topside, we apologize for that. New guy, he will be dealt with. This is just a status check, we lost track of your homing beacon about an hour ago, what happened?"

"Ve haff reached a depth of about 50m, so I'm guessing ve are just out of range."

"All equipment is still operational otherwise?"

"Affirmative."

"Can you give me a progress report as of the hour?"

"Ve have made our way through four more chambers, zat makes seven in total past the entrance… hold on, ve have reached another door, preparing to blow, stand by."

_Static_

"Right, ze door is open."

"What can you tell me?"

"Zere appears to be yet another chamber beyond it, vait, I see buildings…Topside, I think we haff found ze city."

"Roger that Marzipan, will make another check in about an hour, I'd suggest finding a spot to set up camp."

"Vill do Topside, out"

_Static_

_Signal lost_

* * *

_Rietfontein_

A white limousine was parked outside the motel as Hoagie snuck in. It was dark and he was trying to figure out how to explain himself to the rest of the team. He rested up against a J.E.E.P. to gather his thoughts.

"I have never seen you run so fast," a voice came from behind him.

Hoagie spun around to see Nigel approaching him. He still walked with a slight limp even though he no longer needed the crutch.

"Boss!" Hoagie said in panic, "I was, um, I mean, I just, y'know, needed to…"

"Save it," Nigel said with a sigh, "I know why you ran. I know why both of you ran."

Hoagie's eyes narrowed and he stared at the ground.

"What's happened to us Hoag's," Nigel said softly, "Back in pre-K we were inseparable, 1 and 2, no matter were 1 went, 2 always followed."

"We grew older, things change," Hoagie replied, his eyes still fixated on the ground, "we entered the KND, and our interests split us, you made new friends, I made new friends…"

Silence.

"You and Abby," Nigel said, "you're close now?"

"I don't know…" Hoagie said looking up, "I mean it's not like we've been spending fun time together, y'know, we've been busy with other things."

"Like?" Nigel said raising an eyebrow.

"You said you knew," Hoagie responded bitterly.

"Yes, but I want to hear it from you," Nigel said sternly, "why are you two doing this?"

"We have our reasons."

"Don't give me that bullshit!" Nigel blurted out, "They're having you decommissioned! 7 years of KND service down the drain, for what!"

"What does it matter?" Hoagie retaliated, "a year from now we're all decom'med anyway!"

"Come on, Hoagie!" Nigel exclaimed, "You of all people should know about the TND program, you and Abby are good, you both would be shoo-ins."

"I'm glad you think so," Hoagie scoffed trying to walk away, but he was stopped by Nigel's hand on his chest.

"I hope you realize the mistake you're making," he said sharply.

Hoagie leaned into Nigel's face, "So stop me."

He then brushed Nigel's hand off and walked back towards the motel. Nigel let out a long sigh.

"Did you get that?" he asked into a concealed microphone.

"Yes all of it," Rachel's solemn voice said through the earphone hidden behind the brit's ear, "Thank you for your co-operation, the IIB are agents are very happy about this."

"Anything for you, erm, sir," Nigel said, "So this was all they needed?"

"They can now build a full case on those two," Rachel replied, "the minute this mission is over, they're toast. I don't even think they'll be court-martialed."

"Immediate decommissioning?"

"Yep."

Silence.

"Anyway, you get some rest soldier," Rachel commanded, "I look forward to reading your full report on this mission's outcome."

"One more thing if I may, ma'am," Nigel asked, Rachel could hear the grin in his voice.

"Granted," she said.

"Is this line private?"

"Yes."

"I love you."

Rachel was taken back by the sudden change of pace. Her heart melted.

"I-I love you too."

* * *

_Room 223b_

'_And in other news; a local's car was found to be the cause of the fire on main street today, police are uncertain of how the car managed to be parked up the side of a truck but are looking int….'_

The radio went off and the whole room went silent as Hoagie walked in. Seven sets of questioning eyes watched him as he walked over to where Abby was sitting.

"You okay?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," Abby replied with a small smile, "I'm fine."

"We're fine too, thanks for asking," Wally grumbled, "despite the fact that _someone _threw a car at us!"

"I was testing your reflexes," Hoagie smirked, "keeping you on your toes."

"Keeping us on our..." Wally said as he sprang to his feet, getting right into Hoagie's face, "you think yer some kind of cruddy comedian or something? You almost killed us!"

"Now don't you think you're being just a little over dramatic?" Hoagie mused, still grinning, "You act like you've never had a car hurtle towards you before."

"Would you two just shut the hell up?" Kuki said, her eyes closed and her arms crossed. She was sitting on one of the beds with her back against a wall, "What I want to know is why the two of you ran? Hmmm? I mean, I don't think I'm the first to have noticed the strange behavior; secret meetings, weird looks, not to mention the fact that you two have been spending practically _all_ of your time together. Now either something's up, or you two have been breaking rule 445, chapter 6, paragraph IIV."

Hoagie blushed slightly, but Abby sprung to her feet.

"K'know, Numbuh 5's not liking your tone."

"Why? 'Cause I'm not speaking in the third person," Kuki retaliated.

"Now where the heck did that come from?!" Abby exclaimed, shocked by the young Asian's sudden OOC moment, "since when do you give this kind of 'tude?"

"Oh I dunno…" Kuki said, tapping her chin, pretending to wonder, "maybe since _someone_ got so drunk she allowed me to be seduced, kidnapped and scared shitless!''

There was a moment of silence as Kuki glared at Abby, her eyes narrowed, a look of shear pain stretching across the African-American's face.

"N-now c'mon Kooks," Abby said softly, "you know you don't mean that."

"Oh I mean it," Kuki said, "and don't call me 'Kooks'."

"Now that's hardly fair," Hoagie said stepping between the two, "just cause you're such an airhead and have no idea what's going on half the time…"

Kuki laughed.

"I have always known what's happening," she said, "I'm no airhead, I just choose to put on a cheery and happy attitude to lighten the mood a bit, I figured that if I stayed positive, nothin' negative would happen, right? Yeah well, princess over here showed me otherwise."

"A-hem."

All attention turned to the door as the sector leaders, followed by Michael Dennis entered the room.

"How long have you been standing there?" Kuki asked, slightly subdued.

"Long enough," Nigel said with a sigh as he looked about the room.

"Just figured I pop in and say 'hi'," Michael said in his usual tone.

"Dr. Dennis here has just arrived and was eager to meet the rest of the team," Nigel continued, "so, team, Dr Dennis, Dr Dennis, team."

"A pleasure to meet you all," the brit nodded, "but if you don't mind, the trip here was rather exhausting, and I am in dire need of a bubble bath and a glass of wine."

"He's not gonna last a second out there," Sibenzile said shaking her head.

"Don't let his persona fool you, that guy's been on many an expedition, he's tougher thatn he looks," Nigel said with a smile, but his face became serious, "and guys, one thing we need to get straight, is that we're a team, Sector S and Sector V, this is one very dangerous mission and we need to be looking out for each other. I don't know what happened now but we need to accept that mistakes have been made, and we need to put that in the past. Do I have everybody's understanding?"

There was a chorus of confirmation around the room.

"Good, now lets get to bed," Nigel said smiling, "we leave at exactly 08h00."

The girls stood to leave as they were sleeping in the room next door. Nigel placed a hand on Kuki's shoulder as she walked past him. The girl spun around to face her leader, glints of anger still burning in her eyes.

"Please, Kuki," he said, "after all the two of you have been through, is it worth it?"

"Don't worry, boss," she replied with a wink, "I'll sort everything out."

Nigel then removed his hand and Kuki walked on, and as she did, a frown returned to her face.

Nigel walked over to a bed and lay down, taking his glasses off and placing them on the bedside table next to him. He rubbed his eyes and let out a long sigh.

"It's finally happened," he said.

"Wot's happened?" Wally asked lifting his head.

"She's finally snapped," Nigel continued, his eyes still closed, "Kuki has finally snapped."

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"All Sanban girls snap eventually, just look at her mother, and Mushi, well, that's just self explanatory."

Dean looked questioningly as Hoagie.

"Not good, my friend," Hoagie said, turning off the light, "not good."

* * *

**Ok, my Afrikaans SUCKS. What you see at the top of this chapter is the as simple as it can get.**

**Oh, and 500 points to Paper Heart for guessing right. **

**Review… **

**Need I say more?**

******Dark**Mike


	12. Planting the Seed

**Chapter 12: Planting the Seed**

_Namibia, 2km form the South African boarder_

The J.E.E.P. containing the bulk of sector V bumped along the dirt road leading towards Tsane, Nigel was seated on the back seat next to Kuki, who was humming quietly to herself as she read a from a file. She said it was a report on the latest discovery on Rainbow Monkey island, but Nigel wasn't so sure. He shifted his leg slightly and cringed as jolt of intense pain surged through his thigh.

"Numbuh 3," he said, "Hand me my painkillers please."

The raven-haired girl looked at him worriedly.

"But you took one 10 minutes ago," she said, "You're only supposed to take two a day; this'll be your fourth."

"Just give me the bottle," Nigel said with a tired voice, "don't make me give you an order."

Kuki reluctantly tossed the Brit the bottle, Nigel quickly opened it and popped a capsule in his mouth, swallowing it with a sip of Coke. He sighed, rubbing his eyes underneath his shades; he hadn't slept much that night, he had tossed and turned for hours, the past months events haunting his mind. He placed his head up against the door window. Green trees and shrubs above yellow grass shot passed. It wasn't long before Nigel's' eyelids began to droop, the painkillers making him drowsy.

"_A quick nap won't hurt,"_ he decided to himself as he let his eyes close.

A violent crash caused Nigel to shoot awake as the J.E.E.P. grinded to a halt.

"What's happening," Nigel barked.

"Something just took out the front of the convoy!" Tasmin shouted from the driver's seat.

"What?" Nigel asked in disbelief as he pulled himself up to look out through the windshield.

Tasmin had been right, the front J.E.E.P. it was lying in ruins on the side of the road. A bloody arm reached out from the twisted metal, Nigel recognized it immediately.

"Hoagie!" he panicked, "That was Hoagie and Abby's J.E.E.P!"

He jumped out of his own J.E.E.P, running full speed for the wreck. Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently, knocking Nigel off his feet. A huge dragon stepped from behind a large clump of acacias. It was completely black besides for a glowing red outline and shining yellow eyes. Nigel's own eye's widened; Father. The dragon let out a horrifying roar, bringing its left foot onto the wrecked J.E.E.P.

"NO!" Nigel screamed.

The rest of his sector and the whole of sector S were now standing behind him, firing at the monster who seemed to be unaffected by the blasts. The creature lunged forward, stepping right over Nigel, ascending on his teammates. He watched in horror as Kuki was stepped on, Wally was burned alive, Tasmin was sent flying into the veld, Michelle was eaten, Dean's back was snapped like a twig and Vuyani was bitten in half. Michael and Natalie met similar demises. The dragon then turned to Nigel, blood spattered all over its body. He slowly moved towards the sector leader who was paralyzed by fear. Once it reached him it let out another roar, before it slowly began to morph; the wings sucked into its back, the claws turned to hands, the tail retreated into its rear and its head became more human. Nigel expected to see the silhouette of his seemingly psychotic uncle. But instead the figure continued to shrink until it was just slightly taller than Nigel. Nigel stood to face his adversary, when he noticed something. The boy who stood before him was wearing… sunglasses.

"No," Nigel stammered as the boy chuckled.

He reached over his head and pulled away the dark silhouette. Nigel's eyes widened even wider.

"No, no, this can't be happening," he said.

Before him stood a slightly older version of himself; the older Nigel was wearing a black suit with an open collared red undershirt. A small badge sat on the right of his chest. Delightful Industries.

"NO!" Nigel screamed again.

The older Nigel grabbed him by the throat, raising him off the ground.

"Oh yes," older Nigel sneered as younger Nigel struggled to breathe, "I am you, think of this as a sneak peak."

"N-_ack_-ever," Nigel spat.

"Oh don't be like that," older Nigel said with a grin, "Ultimate power…"

He then his mouth to Nigel's ear, "…you know you want it."

"NO!" Nigel shouted as his head shot up from the window.

"What?" Kuki asked in shock.

Nigel looked around him. He was sitting in his J.E.E.P. next to Kuki with Vuyani and Tasmin in the front seats. Everyone in the car was staring at him questioningly.

"Um, bad dream," Nigel shrugged.

"I told you to go easy on the painkillers," Kuki said as-a-matter-of-factly.

She turned back to the file she was reading. It was Numbuh 43's mission report. She had printed it out at the motel after finding it locked by Numbuh 362, but after a bit of sweet talk over the video phone Numbuh 63.5 was happy to unlock it for her.

"67 violations," she whispered to herself, slowly shaking her head.

This was in no way the Abby and Hoagie she knew. She was aware of the problems Abby was experiencing at home, but was that really a good enough reason for this kind of behavior? And what about Hoagie. She thought for a bit. They had been spending basically all of their time together, and since arriving in South Africa, Michelle. Not to mention all the hushed conversations and whispers between the three of them, and the strange outburst at the motel.

"Michelle," Kuki said thoughtfully.

She pulled out her laptop from her carry bag and accessed the KND Operative Database. She punched in 663 and hit enter.

* * *

**KND Operative Database**

**File #7-34-663**

**Numbuh:** 663

**First Name: **Michelle

**Last Name: **Panderious

**Age: **12½

**Native Country: **South Africa

**Joined KND: **2002

**First Sector: **D – Madagascan KND

**Position: **Tactical Officer

**Current Sector: **S – South African KND

**Position:** Second in Command

**Specialties: **Hand to Hand combat, Tactical evaluation **  
**

**KND history:**

Numbuh 663 Joined the KND recruit training program in 2002, and showed excellence in every task she undertook. She breezed through simulations and even received honors of from Numbuh 274. But Inexplicably she failed her final exam, causing her to have to redo the program. She graduated in June 2003 and was assigned to Sector D of the Madagascan KND. She served there until 2005 when an unknown event caused Sector D to missing, Numbuh 663 was the only survivor. She was then assigned to the newly founded South African KND whom she is still with. When Sector S came under investigation later that year for use of unorthodox methods, Michelle came under the spotlight along with Numbuh 662 and Numbuh 665. Numbuh 665 was later charged with crimes against childhood and decommissioned. Things returned to normal, until recently a new investigation when the IIB launched another investigation. The details of this investigation are unknown, but it has been said the Numbuh 663 is a prime focus along with Numbuhs 2 and 5.

**Home Background:**

Numbuh 663's parents were killed in a car accident when she was just 2; she was then placed in the care of an aunt in living in Madagascar. When her aunt passed away in 2004, Michelle moved in permanently with her sector. When she was moved to South Africa in 2005 she was placed in the Sarah King orphanage in Cape Town. She lived there until 2006 when she once again moved in permanently with her sector.

**Tratorisum threat:**

High, it is speculated the Sector D disappeared because they had in fact gone traitor. Michelle claims she knows nothing about this event, but we feel she may know more that she says. The new IIB investigation has seemed to confirm that she is indeed a threat.

**Additional Information:**

She is thought to have an older sister.

* * *

Kuki read over the information a second time. Panderious? Vuyani had introduced her as Michelle Kruger. She picked up Numbuh 43's report again. She scanned the page. Her eyes narrowed as she found what she was looking for. Two of the unauthorized intercontinental trips Abby and Hoagie had taken were to Madagascar. Three were to South Africa. Kuki glanced at the screen and then at the paper in her hand.

"What _are_ you doing?" Nigel said leaning in to take a look at the screen of Kuki's pink notebook.

Kuki quickly snapped the laptop shut, stuffing the report into the file.

"Just checking up on Miley Cyrus's blog," Kuki said smiling sweetly, "Nothing interesting today."

Nigel looked at her questioningly before leaning back placing his bald head back up against the window.

Kuki gave a sigh of relief. Then she shuddered. Miley Cyrus, yuck.

Abby sat in silence in the front seat of the front J.E.E.P. Hoagie sat next to her in the driver's seat, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. She held the bracelet Francis had given her in her one hand, stroking it with her thumb. She cast a sideways glance at Hoagie and smiled; she could see his own bracelet tucked into the pocket of his shirt. So much had happened in the last month and she was giving so much up, but at the same time she felt like she gaining something far more important. With her parent getting divorced and the both of them being miserable, and Cree leaving for college, Abby had felt completely alone, only to find comfort in the weirdest of places, namely Hoagie Gilligan. And in the process, she had gained something she had never really had before, a true friend. No matter what happened she knew she had Hoagie and he had her, and at that point in time she felt that was all she needed.

"What you grinning at?" Hoagie asked with a smile, "you look like my brother when he's just farted."

Abby giggled. Hoagie gave her a skew look.

"You keep doing that," he said.

"What?"

"Laughing at my jokes, it's freaking me out."

* * *

_Incepting signal…_

"Topside this is Capetonian, come in!"

"Roger Capetonian, this is Topside, what seems to be the problem?"

"We're being attacked, requesting immediate assistance!"

"Attacked by what, Capetonian?"

"I don't know! They took out our light! We can't see a damn thing."

"Capetonian stay calm, please give me you exact position so we can get some help down there."

"Right, our position is… oh my God!"

_Inhuman roar_

"Capetonian come in! What's your status?!"

"Ahhhhhhh-ackt"

_Static_

"Capetonian, come in!"

_Static_

"Capetonian come in damn it!"

_Static_

"Please respond!"

_Static_

"We've lost them."

…_Signal lost_

_

* * *

_

_Later that day_

Wally's eyes narrowed and his nose scrunched as he scanned his surroundings. It was about 19:00 , the sun was hovering just over the horizon. He turned back to where the rest of the team was setting up camp. Hoagie heaved a box of food from one of the J.E.E.P.s and put it down next to the campfire Dean was making. He looked up to see the confused Wally strolling back to camp.

"What is it now?" he said with a sigh.

"I thought we were in the Calamari _Desert_," Wally said scratching his head, "this don't look like no desert; there's grass an' trees everywhere."

"_Kalahari_ Desert," Vuyani corrected him with a chuckle, "And this is desert, the climate here is very dry, the plants only green because they are very well adapted, and besides, it's the middle of the rainy season."

"But don't be disappointed, Wallykins," Tasmin mocked, "You'll _get_ the desert you're looking for."

The Aussie's face turned serious.

"Was that a threat?" he said sharply.

"Now, now," Vuyani pacified, "let's not get nasty. We are all friends here."

Wally scoffed and turned to help Kuki set up a tent. Tasmin just chuckled and continued doing her own chore.

Nigel was working with Michael and Natalie to try and figure out their next move.

"Dr. Dennis?" Nigel asked.

"Please old boy, its Michael."

'Right," Nigel said, "when will Moosk be joining us?"

"Soon enough," the good doctor chirped.

Nigel looked to Natalie for some explanation, but all he received was a shrug.

"Boss!" Abby called from her watch post, "We have a single tango coming in on foot from the south-east."

"Male or female?" Nigel called back.

"Looks male," Abby replied, "He's pretty built."

"More like ripped!" Nigel heard Sibenzile comment.

"That would be him," Michael said not looking up from his map.

"Boss?" Abby called "what are we doin' here?"

Nigel jogged over to Abby and took her binoculars. Peering through them he could clearly see Moosk approaching. The Russian gave a friendly wave.

"He's friendly," Nigel said.

The bald leader walked out to greet his friend.

"Moosk," Nigel said warmly, "you made it!"

The large man grappled Nigel's hand, shaking it firmly.

"Sorry Moosk is late," he sighed, "But he ran into some trouble on the border."

"What kind of trouble?"

"15 mens in fancy uniform, they try to stop Moosk," Moosk chuckled, "But I give the butt kicking and they can only crawl home."

The man now burst into a hearty laugh.

"Do you know who sent them?" Nigel asked.

"Nyet," Moosk said shaking his head, "but Moosk did pull this off one of them."

He handed Nigel a material badge with the words _Delightful Industries_ etched across it. Nigel went pale as the events of his dream raced back into his head.

"Comrade 1 okay?" Moosk asked, "you not looking so good."

"I'm fine," Nigel said rubbing his temples, "those men were sent by Father, he must be more aware of our operation than we thought."

* * *

Michelle whistled quietly to herself as she poured a third can of chicken soup into the large pot sitting over the campfire.

"Mmmmm, smells good!"

Michelle turned around to see Kuki standing behind her, her carry bag slung over her shoulder.

"Oh hey Numbuh 3," Michelle said with a smile, "Ya, the food'll be ready in about 20 minutes."

Kuki sat down next to the red-head.

"Perfect," she mused.

"Why is that perfect?" Michelle asked.

"Because I wanted someone to tell campfire stories with," Kuki grinned, "and seeing as you have to watch the food, you're the perfect candidate."

"Campfire stories?" Michelle said thoughtfully, "never done anything like that before."

"Really?" Kuki said looking shocked, "that's terrible. Tell you what I'll start, then you can go after me."

"Perfect," Michelle said.

"Cool," Kuki said giddily, "right this is a story I heard while on Moonbase. It's about an entire sector which went traitor."

"An entire sector?" Michelle said, "Whoa, messed up kids."

"Yea they were really messed up," Kuki agreed, "They were part of the Madagascan KND, sector D, ever heard of them?"

Michelle's eyes widened.

"Well, have you?"

"Nope," Michelle said.

"Anyway," Kuki continued, "the story goes that they disappeared for three days, and on the fourth day, only one of them retured."

"Only one?" Michelle said her nervousness obvious, "I wonder why that is?"

"Oh I think you know all too well," Kuki said with a sly look on her face, "Michelle Panderious."

"Where did you hear that name?" Michelle demanded jumping to her feet.

"Checked your file on the Operative Database," Kuki smirked, also rising to her feet.

"Only Moonbase operatives can access those files," Michelle resorted.

"Moonbase operatives _and _veteran operatives," Kuki said patting her carry bag, "of which I am."

Michelle gulped, she was right, Sector V were the first veteran sector since Sector Z.

"Listen, I know all about you," Kuki said, her tone turning very serious, "And I know you're up to something, and I know that something has something to do with Abby and Hoagie."

Michelle just stood there, completely speechless.

"So if you know what's good for you, you will leave them alone," Kuki said, her voice sweet but lased with threat.

The young Asian then turned and walked off. Hoagie walked over to the still speechless Michelle.

"What was that all about?" he asked, looking on after Kuki.

"Houston," Michelle said in a tired voice, "we have a problem."

* * *

**Wow, that took an extremely long time to write! I don't know why, but hey. Anyway, I have a challenge for any aspiring artist reading this fic, I'd like you to take anything from the fic; scenes, characters, covers, whatever and put it on paper. All I require is a PM or Email either with the pic, or telling me where it's posted. It's really an only-if-you-want-to, but think of it as a boredom buster or maybe a cure for artists' block, but I really want to know how you guys are picturing this stuff.**

**As usual, leave a review on your way out.**

**Thanks**

**Dark**Mike


	13. Tsane

**Chapter 13: Tsane**

_3km outside of Tsane, Namibia_

A small robotic fly constructed from a pencil, some gum, a few microchips and a Phoenix VI Mini rocket turbine whizzed towards the small city. A number of ice-cream vans were parked as a road block on the main road. The fly sped past the post, its guards completely unaware. A small camera attached to the front if the craft fed the images back to Hoagie's laptop. He and the rest where parked 5km from the city.

"Right, we're in," Hoagie grinned.

"Either there's some kind of ice-cream convention, or we've found Father's base of operations," Nigel mused, "This place is crawling with ice-cream men."

"How are we going to get in?" Tasmin asked worriedly, "our supplies are running low."

"We could try and sneak in once it gets dark?" Dean offered.

"Nope, security will be tighter at night," Abby said shaking her head, "there'll be guards on every door and gate."

"Man, Numbuh 1 your uncle is one paranoid dude," Michelle sighed.

"Wait, your uncle is this Father character?" Michael asked.

"Yes," Nigel said, "You didn't know?"

"Nigel Uno, Uno, Uno," Michael pondered, ignoring Nigel, "Natalie, why does Uno sound so familiar? What Uno's we do know who are excessively wealthy?"

Natalie looked up from the book she was reading, giving the group an uninterested look.

"Uno, what's your uncle's first name?" she asked.

"Ben, um, Benedict," Nigel replied.

"Let's see," Natalie said closing her eyes for a moment, "Benedict Uno, owner and founder of Delightful Industries; creating everything from child behavioral adjustors to toasters, your father was involved in that large shares sale."

"Of course!" Michael exclaimed, "Oh, Natalie, my dear associate, what would I do without you?"

"Not a hell of a lot that's for sure," the girl muttered.

"Yes my father was involved in buying shares in your uncle's company," Michael continued, "the two know each other personally, I'll just give my father a call and have him have Father deliver what we need right to our doorstep."

"Excellent!" Vuyani said smiling warmly, "right everyone with that problem solved, you are dismissed, return to your duties."

Everyone slowly dispersed, each heading to their pre-assigned task.

"Hey Numbuh 3!" Wally called jogging up behind the raven haired beauty, "Could you help me out with the supply list?"

"Why'd they give it to you to do? Everyone knows numbers confuse you," Kuki said, "Of course I'll help you, I'll have to."

"Why?" Wally asked starting to get defensive.

"Because if it's left up to you we'd only have cheese curls and soda," Kuki giggled.

"Hey! It's a stable I diet," Wally defended, "It's all I eat and just look at me."

"Yeah, all 4ft 2 of you," Kuki now laughed.

The two were watched from across the camp site.

"Told ya," Sibenzile smirked, "I knew he'd go to her for help."

"Nice one, Sibz," Dean said giving her a high-five.

"If you two are done with your little love-fest," Tasmin snapped, "we have important matters to discuss."

Dean and Sibenzile became solemn.

"Right, Dean, has Wally-kins said anything to any of the other guys?" Tasmin asked.

"Na," Dean said with a shrug, "I think we scared him enough, he ain't gonna sing."

"Good, but what about the girl," Sibenzile said with a frown, "she's been snooping around."

"What do you mean?" Tasmin asked again.

"Well, I overheard her and Michelle talking," Sibenzile said,"but they were talking about the pilot and that _coconut_."

"Numbuhs 2 and 5?" Tasmin continued to enquire, "She must have been talking about that internal investigation. This is perfect; we can use this as cover to get the last shipment out."

"I hope this is the last one," Dean sighed, "this is getting risky; I don't wanna go down like 665."

"If I remember correctly you almost did," Sibenzile teased.

"_Hou jou bek,_" Dean muttered.

* * *

_Sector V tree-house, United States of America_

The figures of five black clad kids silently climbed the trunk of the tree. It was early morning; only the waking birds could be heard as they slowly made their assent. Soon they reached one of the lower balconies.

One of the kids stepped forward and pulled off her Spec Ops helmet, allowing her wavy red hair to blow in the slight breeze. Her name is Fanny Fulbright; Global Tactical Commander and Head of Decommissioning.

"Decom Squad 1 to HQ," she whispered into a concealed microphone, her Irish accent lacing her words, "we have arrived on level 3."

"Roger that Numbuh 86," Numbuh 23's voice came through the speaker in the Commander's ear, "Team 2 has touched down on the roof."

"What's confusing me," Numbuh 35 said taking his own helmet off, "is why we have not encountered _one_ security measure or defense mechanism."

"I am well aware, Numbuh 35, that this is way too easy," Fanny said, "so shut yer mouth before you jinx it."

The five operatives moved to huddle around the door leading off the balcony into the tree-house.

"Prepare to breach," Fanny whispered.

A brown haired girl stepped forward and placed a small mustard charge on the lock of the door. After clearing out of the way she looked across to Fanny who gave her a curt nod. The punched the detonator and the door blew open, the group stormed in to find complete darkness.

"Powers out," Fanny said straining her eyes to see if she see anything, "Night Vision on."

There were series of small beeps and high-pitched whines as the goggles powered up. The room suddenly exploded into their vision, everything in a shade of green. The squad slowly proceeded through the countless rooms and corridors, finding nothing but darkness everywhere they went. Fanny raised her hand for the squad to stop. She pulled a small electronic device with a large screen. She tapped the screen and a map of the tree-house appeared on screen. They were currently on level 13.

"The control room should be about two levels up," she said quietly to her teammates, she then switched on her radio, "Squad 2, we're on level 13, what's your position?"

There was no answer.

"Squad two come in, we're on level 13 wanting to know your current position."

Still no answer.

"Squad 2, come in," Fanny tried a third time.

"Crap," she cursed when there was further radio silence.

She waved her hand and the team now started to run through the tree-house. As they scrambled up a set of stairs onto level 14 the group stopped.

"Can anyone else hear that?" Numbuh 35 asked in a panicky voice.

A faint thumping could be heard from above.

"The control room!" Fanny barked, "Move!"

Decom Squad 1 continued its mad dash up through the colossal structure, the thumping getting louder as the moved up. Eventually they stopped outside the door to the control room, panting and gasping for breath. By now the thumping was causing the floor beneath them to shudder slightly. Fanny stepped forward and slowly opened door following the barrel of her laser rifle into the unknown. She was greeted by Nickleback at full volume blasting through over 30 speakers scattered all over the room. The floor was covered in hamsters bouncing around to the music, toilet and soda flying everywhere. Fanny just stood in the doorway, completely bewildered by the scene before her. That only lasted for a few seconds before instinct kicked in though, she stormed into the room kicking hamsters aside as she did, heading straight for the source of the racket. Finding the large stereo, she punched a hole in it. The music obviously stopped, and so did the dancing rodents.

"Right," she yelled gaining the attention of everyone and everything in the room, "I don't know what yer doing, and I don't care, all I want to know is where the rest of my team is."

The ocean of hamsters parted to reveal the operatives of Decom Squad 2 sprawled out over a couch, soda in hand.

"Hey! Numbuh 86, sir!" one of the slightly soda-drunk kids called, "Grab a soda, join the party!

Joe Darwin hummed to himself as he drove through the suburbs of Cleveland. He was a pillow delivery man, and today was his first day. Content with the ease of his new job, he pulled over quickly to marvel at the colossal tree-house he was passing. As he scanned the structure, he was confused to see a small black dot fly out from somewhere high in the tree-house. As he examined it further he noticed it was getting bigger, and that it seemed to have arms and legs. It also appeared to be screaming like a little girl. Suddenly realizing what he was looking at, Joe quickly repositioned his truck. There was a loud _wap_ and a mushroom of feathers from the back of Joe's open topped truck. Joe scrambled up the side to see if his new passenger was alright.

"Kid!? Are you alright?" he called franticly into the settling pillows.

"Surprisingly, yes," came the voice of the male operative who had offered his commander a soda.

"I dunno," Joe said scratching his head, "we should probably get you to a hospital or something…"

"A hospital?!" the kid yelled in panic, "No! You can't take me there, _she could find me there_, you have to take me to your house and hide me in you basement! It's the only way I will survive!"

"I'm not so sure, I mean, mother says I've got to stop bring in weirdoes I find on the street and…"

"Are you not hearing me, man?" the boy said grabbing Joe by the collar of his shirt, his eye twitching slightly, "she cannot find me! _No-one_ can survive the wrath of **NUMBUH 86**!!"

* * *

_Moonbase_

"Are you aware of the consequences of your actions?" Numbuh 65.3 hissed to his commander, "Blocking a file of such importance without the council's permission! You could be impeached for this!"

"That is why I am _begging_ you to keep this quiet," Rachel pleaded, "I'm convinced that the charges against sector V, all of sector V, are off. The council is working solely off evidence being brought in by the IIB, and commissioner Numbuh 877 is so far up Council-boy 1's ass, they'll believe anything."

"So what are you working off then, huh?" Numbuh 65.3 asked crossing his arms.

"My gut feeling," Rachel said with a sigh, "You don't know Nigel like I do."

"I don't think anyone does," 65.3 said with a grin. Rachel blushed slightly, "I don't know…"

"Please, Herbie," the blond commander said with a desperate expression.

"Fine," Herbie eventually gave in, "I won't say anything, but only because we're friends."

The nerdy boy was taken off guard, by the sudden hug that was Rachel's response.

"Thank-you, I swear you will not regret this," she promised pulling out of the hug.

"Yeah well," Herbie said realigning his glasses, "Oh, the actual reason I came in here."

He passed Rachel a file. She flipped it open and read over the small amount of text.

"My file block was bypassed?" she said in a confused tone, "How?

"Somebody used a veteran status override to access the files," Numbuh 65.3 continued, "take a look at who."

"Kuki," Rachel breathed out.

* * *

_KND camp, 6km outside Tsane_

A large helicopter hovered just above the ground, kicking sand up and slashing it across the faces of the two long figures standing in the dark to greet it. The helicopter touched down with a loud crunch. A man in a black suit along with six large, uniformed men stepped out and marched over to the figures.

"Michael! Natalie!" the man in the suit greeted warmly, "so nice to see you again!"

"Likewise, Mr. Kelling," Michael said shaking the man's hand, "How are things over at Delightful Industries?"

"Great, absolutely fine," Mr. Kelling said.

"I've been hearing something about some kind of expedition?" Michael asked, "Are you authorized to shed some light?"

The grey haired man leaned in closer to the brit.

"It's all hush-hush," he said quietly, "but the big boss himself is applying personal effort, all that's being said is that it is a substantial financial opportunity of the company."

"I see," Michael grinned.

"So what are you up to?" Kelling asked, looking around, "Something similar I'm assuming."

"We're just heading over to Zimbabwe," Michael said waving his hand, "I've always wanted to check out the ruins around there."

"Zimbabwe?" Kelling said looking shocked, "Are you sure?"

"I am well aware of the risks," Michael said, "but one should never let a country's dispute get in the way of science."

"Speaking of risks," Mr. Kelling said eyeing the camp suspiciously, "We've had reports of a group of KND vandals following our operation, would you know anything of this?"

"KND?" Michael asked, "Kids Next Door? I can't say I have."

"Then, I don't suppose you mind my men taking a quick look around, hmm?"

"Now?" Michael objected, "but all my men are sleeping, you might disturb them and I need them in top form."

"Not to worry, my men are trained for stealth," Kelling said with a sly grin.

As two of the uniformed men offloaded the supplies, the other four started to scout through the camp.

"My God, Natalie!" Michael exclaimed spinning to face his associate, "The soup! It's still on the fire!"

Inside one of the small tents that had been erected around the J.E. Nigel cursed under his breath.

"Right guys," he said quietly into his radio, "Plan B."

The four men began to slowly work their way through the camp, stopping here and there to poke around. One of them silently opened the flap to a tent to find a large man sleeping inside. Recognising him as office fugitive Vin Moosk, he slowly reached for his radio. There was a click and the man turned to find him staring down the barrel of a KND laser rifle.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, mate," the blond aussie behind the trigger warned.

"This is just protocol you understand," Kellign advised.

"Chief, code red!" a yell echoed from somewhere in the camp. If was followed by a group of tents to light up red and a loud buzz.

"Code red?" Michael asked nervously, "he must have found the soup."

"Amusing Mr. Dennis," Kelling said with a grin, "but I'm afraid it's over."

"Actually it's far from it," Natalie said as she pulled a pistol from under he blouse and fired at the shocked Mr. Kelling. The bullet made contact with the man's shoulder sending him sprawling. The men unloading the helicopter quickly pulled out guns of their own and began firing at Michael and Natalie.

"Natalie, get down!" Hoagie yelled as he heaved the large…

**Kids Next Door:**

**B.U.Z.Z.O.O.C.A**

**B ulking**

**U tility**

**Z aps**

**Z illions**

**O f**

**O pposition**

**C ausing**

**A gony**

_**(Note: Weapon has not been cleared by the official 2x4 Technology Patent Office.)**_

… onto his shoulder.

"Don't gotta tell me twice! " Natalie yelled as she grabbed Michael's arm and yanked him into cover.

A large beam on blue electricity fired from the watermelon-sized barrel of the weapon. It hit the first guy and the beam arched to hit the second, knocking them both out instantly. Two more of the goons rushed from the line of tents and was greeted by the same nullification. Wally turned to see a fourth guy running towards where he and Kuki were standing, holding a laser dagger up above his head, ready to strike. Wally ran straight at him, dropping into a slide as he approached. The large man swung at him, but missed. Wally shot between the man's legs wiping them out as he did. The goon did a forward flip, hitting the ground face first, hard. He let out small groan before slipping into unconsciousness. The final guy decided to make a run for it, but ran straight into the concrete wall that was Vin Moosk. Moosk simply grabbed the man's face, which fit perfectly into the large Russian's hand and smashed hid head into the ground. He too was obviouly out for the count.

"Bad move kiddies," Kelling sneered as he stumbled to his feet gripping his bleeding arm, "I just called in to my boss and he's sending a small army over here as we speak."

Michelle walked over to him.

"Good-night Mr. Kelling," she said sweetly before delivering a teeth cracking punch into the man's face. Kelling's eyes rolled as he slumped over.

"Right people," Nigel barked, "things have gone very south, you heard the man, we need to get out of here very quickly."

"Michelle, Abby and Dean, tie these men up," Vuyani ordered joining the command, "put them into the helicopter once you're done, Wally and Hoagie; get those supplies loaded and the rest of you start packing up the camp, time is of the essence my friends, we need to act quickly."

All personal issues were forgotten as the call of duty came to effect.

"What are we going to do?" Nigel asked his co-commander.

"It seems like were going to have to head straight to the dig site," Vuyani said stroking his chin, "but that will put our arrival time at some time noon tomorrow."

"Broad daylight," Moosk with a sigh, "It will not be being so easy to seek into Lost City in broad daylight?"

"What choice do we ha…" Vuyani started to say but he was cut off by a distant rumbling.

"Numbuh 2!" Nigel called out, "I want you on radar, now!"

Hoagie dropped what he was doing and ran for his J.E.E.P. Once inside he switched on the radar unit built into the dashboard.

"Holy crap!" he called out, "Boss, we got a problem."

Nigel rushed over to him and looked at the radar screen. His eyes widened; the screen looked like a Dalmatian coat, it was covered in small red dots.

"I'm counting over 50 units," Hoagie said, panic evident in his startled voice, "And they're coming ion from all sides except the north-west."

"They're forcing us into the city, Nigel said solemnly.

"It has to be trap."

"We don't really have much of a choice."

They both stared at the screen in silence.

"We'll head for the city," Nigel stated finally.

"What?" Hoagie exclaimed, "We can't! We saw earlier, Tsane is crawling with ice-cream men."

"I prefer to take my chances with a few ice-cream men than with Father's elite," Nigel said.

"Shouldn't we discuss this first?" Hoagie continued to protest.

"No time," Nigel said, "go and inform the others."

"But…"

"I don't wanna here it," Nigel said sternly, "that's an order."

"Yes sir," Hoagie said through his teeth as he got up and left.

"An interesting decision," Vuayni said raising an eyebrow.

"Do we honestly have another choice?" Nigel asked seeking approval.

Vuyani gave a warm smile.

"I suppose not," he said, "let's get going"

The four J.E.E.P.s roared towards Tsane, breaking straight through the road-block as they did.

"Right people," Nigel called into the radio, "we've located a construction site in the centre of town, from there we can hold our poison and see what we're dealing with. Best-case scenario; we're able to push the enemy back to allow us a clear path westward out the city. Worst-case scenario; I have Moonbase readying air support, if it all goes south, we can be airlifted out of there, we don't want that though as it will attract serious attention. We want to sneak into the dig site not fight our way in. Everyone understand?"

Nigel received a string of "Yes sir"s in conformation.

"Alright boys and girls," Hoagie said taking over the radio, "Driving like a lunatic 101: Don't stop moving, if we have to even so much as slow down, we're screwed. Get whoever is in the car with you to grab a gun and hang out a window, we all know how damn persistent these ice-cream men are. Just follow me and hold on tight."

Hoagie's J.E.E.P. smashed through the final road-block and the convoy sped onto the high-way. Immediately there was a screech of tires as three ice-cream vans launched off the pavement into pursuit. Sibenzele perched herself through the sunroof of the back J.E.E.P. Taking careful aim with a sniper laser rifle, she fired two shots, each one hitting an ice-cream man in the face. Two of the vans spun out of control, colliding with the concrete barriers on the sides of the road. This was in vain though, as three more vans joined the chase. Two of the three sped up on either side of the J.E.E.P containing Moosk, Natalie and Michael. The vans side windows flapped down and two machine guns were heaved onto a platform. Before the men could even fire both were taken out. The one on the left by Moosk who simply reached forward and pulled the man out of the van, tossing him onto the road, and the one on the right by Natalie, who grabbed the barrel of the gun and spun it around, it making serious contact with the ice-cream man's head. This too was in vain as the vans fell back and were replaced by a further four. This went on as the chase continued; for every van they managed to eliminate, another two replaced it.

"There's the construction site!" Kuki called from the now front J.E.E.P.

There were a grand total of 12 vans now following them.

"Numbuh 2," Nigel barked into the radio, "now!"

All of a sudden Hoagie's car slowed falling behind the others. There was a loud clank as a top to a barbeque grill filled with 2kg of plastic explosives fell out the back of the J.E.E.P. The device started to beep and Hoagie punched it. The ice-cream vans sped towards the strange item, and, just as they were about to drive over it, Hoagie pressed the small red button attached to the top of the steering wheel. The device exploded, engulfing the vans in a huge fireball. The vans themselves also detonated as they flipped over.

"Whoooooohoooooo!!!" Hoagie cheered as bits of van rained down around them.

The J.E. crashed through the chain-link fence surrounding the site. Without a word the team parked the cars to form a barricade in front of the only entrance and took position on and around it.

"Weapons free, ladies and gents," Nigel said grabbing a gumball-gun.

The rest of Sectors S and V did the same, grabbing laser rifles to mustard pistols. Hoagie positioned the B.U.Z.Z.O.O.C.A over the hood of a J.E.E.P while Sibenzile climbed the scaffolding behind them to give sniper support and Moosk pulled out his trademark minigun.

"Ok, they're setting up some kind of machine," she called down, "but not sending any kind of troops."

Hoagie's eye's widened.

"What?" Abby asked.

"Numbuh 661!" Hoagie called up at Sibenzile, "what does the machine look like?!"

"Big and round," came her reply, "It seems to have a single barrel, and they're loading what looks like some kind of giant…"

"Numbuh 661, you've got to get down from…" Hoagie tried to warn her, panic taking over, but he was too late.

A huge metallic arm launched from the machine, taking less than a second to clear the 500m between it and Sibenzile. Her eyes widened as she opened her mouth to attempt a scream. She was cut off though, as the claw at the end of the arm made contact with her torso. She let out a painful 'ack' as the claw clamped around her, almost crushing her diaphragm. The impact had mad her loose balance on the small platform she was standing on. She lost her footing and began to fall, time seeming to slow down as everyone turned and watched in horror. There was a sickening thud as Numbuh 661 made contact with the dusty ground. A long painful second followed, that's all it was, a mere second, but to the KND operatives, it seemed like a lifetime. What was happening in front of them was unreal; things like this just didn't happen in the KND. Sibenzile let out a cry as the arm started to retract, like a fish on a hook, she was slowly reeled in. The sound of the metal scraping along the ground snapped Hoagie back into reality. He bolted to aid his fallen comrade.

"Sibenzile, stay with me!" he called as he began tugging at the claw, "I got you."

Sibenzile eyelids flickered as she looked up a him letting out a small whimper. A single tear ran down her cheek. Tasmin was still in a daze as the two of them scraped past. SIbenzile's foot brushed her leg and she shot back to reality as she ran to help Hoagie. The two gripped and tugged at the claw as it dragged them and Sibenzile towards the group of ice-cream vans at the end of the street.

"C'mon Sibz!" she yelled, "You need to stay awake!"

Sibenzile weakly turned her head to look at Tasmin. She smiled slightly.

"It has to stop," she whispered.

"What has to stop?" Tasmin said starting to cry.

"The drugs, it has to stop, we're hurting do many people," Sibenzile said, tears streaming down her face.

"No," Tasmin said quietly, "we have to do it, there's no other way to…"

"There is always another way," Sibenzile coughed, her whisper getting quieter and quieter, "It has to stop, it has to stop…it has to….stop…it...has……to…stop…"

Sibenzile Kakugle fluttered a final smile as Tasmin watched as the last of her life drained from her eyes. The girl let out a long scream as the retraction of the metal arm kicked into high gear, ripping Sibenzile's body from her hands.

"No!" Tasmin screamed as she got up and started to run after it.

"Tasmin you have to get down!" Hoagie yelled after her, "They're going to fire again!"

When the girl gave no response he launched to his feet and sprinted down the un-kept road. He watched as three Ice-cream men removed Sibenzile's body from the claw and loaded it again. Hoagie gave one final burst and shoved Tasmin off her feet. She hit the ground seconds before the metal arm whizzed over her head and grabbed Hoagie. There was no delay this time; Hoagie flew off his feet as he was yanked towards the machine.

"Hoagie!" Abby yelled.

She looked franticly at Nigel, eye's wide.

"Comrade 1," Moosk said looking worriedly at the mass of ice-cream vans and the murderous machine, "Moosk suggests we get fallen girl and make with the getting of out of here."

Nigel looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Everyone grab a car!" he barked, "we need to get out of here, someone go and get Tasmin while they're reloading, quick!

"What about Sibs and Hoagie?" Dean asked.

"It's too late for them," Nigel said quietly.

"So that's it then!" Wally demanded, "We're just going to leave them?"

"If we try and rescue them, we'll all be captured and their sacrifice will be for naught," Nigel yelled, "So shut the hell up and obey orders!"

"I'll go after Tasmin!" Dean said jumping into a J.E.E.P.

Everyone else did the same as Dean sped off towards the grounded Tasmin.

Tasmin's head was spinning. This had to be a dream, a bad dream. There was no way Sibs was dead, no way. Her world was rocked further as she felt herself being lifted from the ground.

"Come on Tas," Dean was saying, "we need to get you out of here."

Dean lifted Tasmin into the passenger seat of the J.E.E.P and sprinted around to the driver's side. He fumbled with the keys as he tried to start the car. Tasmin screamed as the metal claw smashed into the passenger side of the car. There was a loud metallic crunch as the claw clumped shut. Dean kicked his door open and grabbed Tasmin's hand as the J.E.E.P was pulled out from underneath them. Ice cream men dived out the they way as the J.E.E.P collided with the machine. A huge explosion followed. Tasmin and Dean hit the ground hard, but stood up and started to run towards Wally's waiting JE.E.P. Kuki was in the back seat calling to them to hurry. Tasmin dived in followed by Dean as the car sped off.

"Are you guys alright?" Kuki asked worriedly.

"She's gone," Tasmin whimpered.

"Don't worry, we'll get Sibz back," Dean said putting his arm around her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her.

"No you don't understand," Tasmin said shrugging his arm off, "she's gone, she's dead. Sibenzile is dead."

She burst into tears as Dean, Wally and Kuki slowly absorbed what had just been said. Dead, a word uncommon to KND operatives, but now it was all to real.

Meanwhile at the machine Hoagie had been restrained as was being carried off by two ice-cream men.

"Let me go!" he yelled, thrashing about, "Where's Sibenzile?!

He was thrown into a holding cell attached to the back of a large truck. He launched to his feet and ran at the door, but it was shut before he could reach it, and then he saw her, lying on the ground beside the machine, her lifeless eyes staring at the stars. Hoagie felt a sudden wave of sadness, anger and defeat sweep over him. He collapsed and shut his eyes, but the image remained, burned into his mind forever. It was at that moment that something changed inside Hoagie. The small thread that attached him to his childhood finally snapped. He sat up; his eye's narrowed as he stared at the far end of his cell. Then out of nowhere, a small grin crept across his face, which was followed by a chuckle, which was followed by a giggle. Eventually Hoagie was laughing harder than he ever had in his life. And once he was done, he smiled contently as quietly removed the aviator's cap from his head and stuck it in his pant pocket; he then shifted his goggles from his eyes to his forehead, allowing his longish brown-red hair to hang over it. He then laid back, and staring at the ceiling he said a small prayer for Sibenzile, and then waited, waited for his new plan to come into action. For what had just happened was something KND profilers and therapists like to call the 'deciding moment'. And Hoagie had made his decision.

Hoagie P. Gilligan II had grown up.

* * *

**Wow that took a long time, I must have rewritten this at least four times and I'm still not completely happy. But I just going to upload this version or it'll never get done. Pretty morbid, eh, and I know what you're thinking, 'how could he go from a light and humorous 86 scene to a character death?' I'm not even sure myself. **

**Review please, even if it's just to vent about my tardiness (a positive comment would be nice though).**

**Dark**Mike


	14. An Unlikely Alliance

**Chapter 14: An Unlikely Alliance **

_Location Unknown_

Hoagie was sweating. The room he was in felt like a sauna. It must have been 40°C outside and 50 inside. Bead after bead of the salty liquid ran from his forehead onto his face, every now and again making a detour to his already singing eyes. He wasn't sure how long he'd been awake. Had it been two hours since he had been hauled out of Tsane, or was it four? Either way he hadn't slept a wink, well, he had tried to, only to be slapped awake by one of his captors. All the time Hoagie had spent inside that cell he had been waiting for someone to bust him out, but when they had arrived at where ever he was, he realized that no-one was coming. He could hear Nigel now; preaching to the rest of the team about wasting his and Sibenzile's sacrifice. Well his sacrifice was unintentional, and as for Sibenzile, nothing was worth a sacrifice like that. He was sure that Abby would try to spring him, and he was glad she didn't, that wasn't part of the plan. He at least found some comfort in the idea that she and Michelle were going to get away. Away from the Kids Next Door. Hoagie had only then realized how he despised those words, an organization that swore to protect children's rights, but at what price? Those who joined the KND gave up their own childhood in the process, just look at what it had done to Nigel. And besides, the KND was all politics now; more energy was being put into making the KND looked good than the actual missions. The reason for this being when operation Z.E.R.O. brought the entire organization into the public eye, governments and child protection agencies all over the world went off the handle. The Israeli government had even gone as far as to label the local KND sector as 'terrorists' when a battle with Father destroyed half of East Jerusalem. Hoagie didn't blame them, the KND had betrayed him, and now a child's life had been taken in its name. If there weren't so many people within the KND that he cared for, he would've sung like a heart-sore canary for every one of the interrogators that had seen so far. But he was alone now, slumped lifelessly in a corner of his small concrete cell. There was a clank as the bolt to the door was lifted. Hoagie didn't pay notice. It was probably another interrogator. He let out a yelp when something furry and shrieking scrambled over his head to hide behind him.

"Momo! A female voice yelled from outside the room, "you stinkin' little fleabag! Get the hell out of..."

There was a pause as the source of the voice entered the room.

"Hoagie? Oh my god, is that you?"

"Stella?" Hoagie said weakly turning his head towards her and squinting to focus his eyes.

Stella stood 5'1" with shoulder length chocolate brown hair the hugged wildly to her neck, a few strands hanging over her face. She was wearing jeans and a worn out grey T-shirt with a yellow apron over it. Her sneakers squeaked as she ran over him. Crouching beside him, she examined him. He was filthy, dust and grime mixed with sweat covered his face. His clothes were in worse shape; his blue shirt more brown than anything else, his pants torn in several places, he also had two huge bruises on each arm.

"Lookin' good, Hoag's," she said in her Brooklyn accent, "I see you've lost a few ponds."

"As have you," Hoagie managed a chuckle.

"Yeah, nice aint it?" She stood and gave a twirl, showing off her perfect figure, "amazin' what six months of cardio can do."

She looked back at Hoagie with delight.

"So what about you?" she asked, crouching down again, "Fat Camp, right?"

Hoagie just nodded, and Stella burst out laughing. The boy smiled, this was exactly what he needed. Momo poked his head from behind Hoagie's arm. Stella lunged forward and grabbed at the little marmoset. Momo let out a squeak and jumped back, avoiding her grip.

"Aaargh!" the girl seethed, "I swear if I ever get my hands on you..."

The monkey scrambled to hide behind Hoagie's arm again.

"Heh, looks like he likes me," Hoagie mumbled petting him.

"Yeah well you can keep him," Stella fumed crossing her arms.

"Really?" Hoagie asked instantly sitting up straighter.

"Yeah he's all yours!" Stella said calming down a bit, "You'd actually be doin' me a favor.

Hoagie looked at the girl as she uncrossed her arms and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"What?" she asked when she caught him staring.

"God, Stella," Hoagie grinned, "last place I saw you was that 2x4 Tech convention in Chicago last year."

"Yeah well remember that operation M.O.L.E. I was tellin' you about?" she asked while crossing her legs to sit down.

"Yeah?"

"Well you're looking at her," Stella sighed.

"So you made it, that's great," Hoagie said happily.

"Kinda, I was posted as a thug in one of Father's kid gangs and worked my way up the ranks, a four month tango, and I'm now jailer to Father's personal prisoners," she said looking at the ceiling.

"So you're still undercover?" Hoagie asked his voice suddenly cautious.

"Not exactly," Stella said smiling, "I turned 13 a month ago and decided to stay. The KND can't get to me, but believe me they've tried."

"Lucky you," Hoagie muttered.

"Yeah, what's goin' with you?" the brunette asked, a mischievous grin creeping onto her face, "this base is chirpin' 'bout how the great sector V is fallin' apart at the seams, with special interest on you and that Lincoln girl…"

"Abby," Hoagie threw in.

"…yeah, yeah, and how the two of you are supposed to be plannin' a bail on you decom."

"Something like that," Hoagie grinned, "hey, if you got away with it, why can't I?"

"'Cus I'm smarter and better lookin' than you," Stella said with a wink, "But you aint doin' too bad, in the looks department that is."

Hoagie was about to say something when he was cut off by a loud knock on the door. Two men strode in.

"Miss Hadley, you are asked to leave and return to your post," the larger of the two said.

"Yes sir," Stella said as she snapped to her feet and quickly hurried out of the room, without so much as glancing at Hoagie.

The large man yanked Hoagie from the floor and threw him into one of the chairs on either side of the small table in the center of the cell. Momo gave an unhappy 'eek' and hopped onto Hoagie's shoulder. The large man then left as the second man sat down in front of Hoagie. He was a long, thin man with slicked grey hair and a suit almost exactly the same as the one Kelling had been wearing. He didn't say anything; he just sat there, quietly reading the contents of a file. Hoagie was preparing himself for the usual questions; 'What are you doing here?' 'What is the KND's interest in Father's activities?' 'What are the names of all those involved?' He was also trying to guess the man's interrogation strategy. He'd had them all, good-cop-bad-cop, the comfort trip, the discomfort trip, the guilt trip, the scare-it-out-of-him trip, everything. But to his surprise, this man took a different approach.

"Good morning, Mr. Gilligan," he said, his voice deep and slightly hoarse, "My name is Gerry."

"Nice to meet you Gerry," Hoagie said sarcastically, "you here to let me go?"

"Not quite," the man smiled, "but I'm here to try and make sure it happens."

"So you're my friend," Hoagie almost sneered, "I'm touched."

Gerry only smiled.

"I understand how you must be feeling," he said, "no sleep in eight hours, being questioned this way and that, but I am here to inform you that, by Father's personal orders, you are to be escorted from this cell to a privet suite."

Hoagie narrowed his eyes at Gerry.

"What's in it for him?" he said.

"Father simply wishes to discuss a business proposal with you," Gerry continued, "and says that he can't talk business with someone who looks like a prisoner."

Hoagie looked thoughtful but remained silent.

"A simple 5 minute meeting," Gerry added, his tone resembling that of a salesman about to close a deal.

"Ah, what the hell," Hoagie finally gave in, "just one condition."

"Anything," Gerry smiled.

"I get to keep the monkey."

"Deal"

* * *

_Masipumelele, informally known as "Site 5", just outside Cape Town_

Detective Marius van der Stel sat quietly in his car. It was 6 in the morning and he seemed to be the only soul alive. He was parked outside one of the few brick houses in the informal settlement. Ah screw it, it was a squatter camp, he was so sick of this "politically correct" crap. But he had to deal with it if he wanted to keep his job. The fact that he still even had his job surprised him, with all this BEE, or black economic empowerment, business. It was a bill passed to help even the odds when the Apartheid ended. It basically meant that if a black guy and a white guy had to apply for the same job with the same skills, the black guy would get it, and that all businesses had to have a certain amount of non-white staff. Marius lit a cigarette and took a long drag.

"Damn kaffirs," he said to himself, the smoke drifting from his mouth.

And now here he was, surrounded by kaffirs, or blacks, in a place he figured no white should be caught dead. But today was different, that morning a 12 year old girl's body was brought in. Sibenzile Kakugle was the girl's name. She was found by a group of archaeologists in Tsane up in Namibia. They said she had been playing on scaffolding on a construction site and she fell. They had insisted she was South African, but couldn't give a reason why they were so sure. Ah well, they'd been correct, and now Marius had the awful job of informing her parents. He sighed. 12 was way to young to be pushing daisies, even for a black. There was motion at the front door of the house as it opened, a tall thin African woman emerged followed by much younger child, couldn't have been more that 6 or 7. Marius sighed again. The woman stopped when she noticed his car. Marius opened the car door and stepped out.

"Good morning Mrs. Kakugle," he said as he approached her, "my name is Detective Van der Stel."

"It's Miss," the woman corrected him, "But how can I help you Detective?"

The man sighed once more.

"I think we need to step inside," he said, "where were you going?

"To drop my daughter off at school," Miss Kakugle said suspiciously, "Why? What's happened?"

"Is there anyone else who could drop off your daughter?" Marius persisted, ignoring her questions.

Miss Kakugle gave him another narrow look then turned back to the house and yelled something in Xhosa. A young African man emerged and walked over to them.

'This is my son..." she started to say.

"Chipo," Marius finished her sentence, "I know, we've met."

"Good to see you too, Detective," Chipo grinned.

His mother gave him a puzzled look. Chipo replied in Xhosa, laughing a bit when he finished.

"Take your sister to school," Miss Kakugle instructed.

The smile on Chipo's face vanished. He mumbled something as he led his oblivious sister down the street.

"Shall we step inside?" the detective asked, gesturing towards the Kakugle home.

Miss Kakugle gave him one final look before slowly walking towards the house. Marius took one final drag before dropping his cigarette on the

ground and stepping on it. He let the last of the smoke out with a long sigh. He just realised how much he hated his job.

_

* * *

_

Visitor's Suite, Father's lair, 6km west of Tsane, Namibia

Hoagie gave a long whistle as he stepped out of the shower. He hadn't had a hot shower since the night before the team set out. He wrapped a towel around his lower body and looked over a Momo. The little primate was sitting next to the basin Hoagie had filled with water for him. Hoagie watched curiously as Momo carefully groomed himself; he would dip his hands into the water and wash his face, then his fur and finally his hands and feet. Hoagie gave a laugh a threw a small towel over the monkey's head. Momo eeked a protest but took the towel and dried himself off.

"There we go," Hoagie said opening the bathroom door, "all fresh and... aaaaaaaah!"

He jumped back at the sight of someone sitting on the bed in the center of the room waiting for him.

"Shit Stella!" he gasped clutching his chest, "don't frikkin' do that."

The girl giggled.

"I just came up here to give you some fresh clothes," she said holding them out to him.

Hoagie reached forward but Stella pulled them away at the last second.

"But you don't have to get dressed for me," she said with a grin, "I like the view."

Hoagie lunged at the pack of clothes but Stella pulled them further away. He lent in further and suddenly his face was inches away from Stella's. She gave another giggle and Hoagie smiled; she really was so beautiful. He began to move his face in closer, she responded by doing the same. Their faces edged in closer and closer until their lips were just about to touch.

"_I am not going through with the rest of this alone..."_

Hoagie stopped and pulled his head back. Stella gave him a puzzled look.

"I can't, I'm sorry," he said quickly.

Stella smiled sweetly at him.

"Abby, right?" she said.

"I… I don't know," Hoagie said.

Stella shook her head.

"You're a good guy, Hoagie Gilligan."

Momo gave an "eek" in conformation and climbed onto Hoagie's shoulder. The pilot scratched him behind the ear.

"Now you've NEVER listened to me before ya rotten simian," Stella said looking Momo dead in the eyes, "but do this one thing for me; look after this guy, he's gonna need all the help he can get."

Momo gave a very human smile and seemed to nod. For a moment Stella felt some kind of understanding between her and the monkey, this was ruined by Momo when he squeezed half a tube of toothpaste over the girl's face.

"Yeah," Stella sighed, "that's what I thought."

She wiped it off with a towel and turned to Hoagie.

"Take care," he said smiling.

"You too," she replied, a small hit of sadness in her voice.

She turned and started to walk towards the door.

"Oh and Hoag's," she said tuning back, "If things don't work out with that Abby chick, you know where to find me."

And with that the door shut and she was gone. Hoagie sighed and finished getting dressed. The phone next to his bed rang as he finished tying his shoe-laces.

"Yes?" he said picking it up.

"Please be ready to leave in one hour," the voice of the other side of the line stated, "a guard will be there to escort you to your meeting."

"I get to bring the monkey right?"

"As requested."

"Good."

He put the phone down and sighed again. Great, what in God's name was he supposed to do for another hour? He looked over at his new sidekick, who had somehow managed to not only find an electric razor, but take it apart too. He said on the floor with the once proud electronic in various little pieces lying in front of him, a very content look on his face.

"That's pretty cool," he said crouching down to look at the jumble of wires and circuit boards.

Suddenly someone somewhere switched on the lights. Hoagie's face lit up as he began to scavenge the room for other electronics. One satisfied with his bounty he retired to the bathroom and got to work. In fifteen minutes he had created a one-way radio and a small laser firearm.

"Abby, come in Abby," Hoagie said into the radio.

For a moment he only received static, but then…

"Hoagie? Hoagie, is that you? Shit, Michelle! I got Hoagie on radio!"

"Hey keep it down," Hoagie rasped, "but yeah it's good to hear from you too."

"Where are you?" Abby's voice was close to frantic.

"In Father's lair, but I can't explain that now," Hoagie said in a hurried tone, "all you need to know is I'll be at the entrance to the tunnel when you guys get there, okay?"

"Okay," Abby confirmed softly.

"You okay?" Hoagie asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just thought we'd lost you."

Hoagie could hear the smile in her voice.

"Didn't know you cared," he joked.

"Of course I care," Abby said playfully, "and don't you forget it. Abby out."

The radio went dead and Hoagie laughed a little.

A knock on the door made him jump; he quickly shoved the radio into his pocket. A man entered; he was pretty short, with a nervous darting eyes and a balding scalp. He cleared his thought before speaking.

"Mr. Gilligan?" he said, "M-my name is Harrison, I'll be escorting you to your meeting with Father."

"You?" Hoagie chucked a little, "no offence dude, but you don't seem very, how should I put it, enforcing."

Harrison grinned.

"That's why I have Boris," he said.

A second man entered, he had to duck through the doorway sideways he was so big.

Hoagie gulped out loud.

"Uh, after you?" he said meekly.

The young pilot was led through an endless maze of corridors; the décor generally changing to concrete on concrete to wooden paneling and plush carpet. They finally arrived at a large oak door. Harrison whispered something to the young woman sitting behind a small desk beside the door. While they conversed Hoagie's gaze started to drift around hid surroundings. He let out a whistle.

"Pretty spiffy place," he said looking up at Boris, "you must have a pretty decent pay check."

The large man just growled down at Hoagie who became instantly silent; his face solemn and staring straight ahead. Momo eeked from his shoulder and Boris snarled. The monkey jumped slightly and joined Hoagie in his terrified gaze. Harrison finally moved away from the desk and over to the door. He opened it and stepped inside, Hoagie followed; his eye's widening at his surroundings. He couldn't help but cringe a little as his gaze moved onto Father who was seated behind his desk, reclining slightly as he read from a file; the man was just so intimidating, even more so now. He looked up as Hoagie and Harrison approached.

"Ah Mr. Gilligan," he said, "Please take a seat. I can call you Hoagie right? Or would you prefer Numbuh 2?"

"Hoagie's fine."

The boy took a seat in on of the chairs in front of the desk..

"Can I get you anything to drink?" Father asked, "Juice? Tea? Coffee?"

He seemed to have a slightly more sinister edge to his voice as he offered the last beverage. Hoagie considered the coffee. According to the KND, coffee was a poison; causing kids to grow up long before their time. But after Abby had gotten a taste on the Delightful Children's coffee derrick, she started drinking it in secret. When the two of them began working on the escape plan, she had offered him a cup. He had declined stating that he wasn't going to risk it, but a small part of him resented that decision. He glanced at Momo who shook his head ferociously.

"I'll have some coffee," Hoagie said with a grin.

The monkey face-palmed.

"Excellent," Father said, "Harrison, make my young friend and I some coffee."

Harrison moved over to the kettle on a small table to the left of the room and switched it on.

"How do you have your coffee, Hoagie?" Father asked.

"I dunno," Hoagie shrugged, "how would you recommend?"

"Black, three sugars," Father said smiling, "only way to drink the stuff."

Hoagie shrugged again and Father nodded at Harrison.

"Right," he said, "I'm sure you're wondering why I wanted to meet with you."

"A little, yeah."

Father smiled.

"Well," he continued, "I heard you and Miss Lincoln are making a run for it, y'know ditching the KND, and I want to know how I can help."

Hoagie's eyes narrowed.

"Why?"

"Oh you know me," Father waved a hand at him, "any chance to take a dig at the Kids Next door, but other than that I think its pretty kick-ass how the two of you are even trying, considering the odds against you."

"It's three of us," Hoagie grinned proudly, "and thanks."

Harrison brought two steaming mugs on a tray placing one in front of Father and the other in front of Hoagie. Father picked up the cup and took a sip letting out a satisfied sigh as he brought the mug away from his lips. Hoagie picked up his own mug. He stared down at the black-brown liquid and for a moment, seven years of KND oath caused him to hesitate. He glanced up at father who was watching expectantly. He glanced at Momo who was staring at him worriedly. He shrugged as that moment ended and six months of rebellion urged him to take a sip. At first the liquid bit at his tongue, not so much the heat but the first punch of the flavor. He gave a grin of satisfaction though as it rushed over the other regions of his taste buds. He finished the cup in three sips. Father looked on happily. He had him. Hoagie placed the mug on the desk and sighed.

"So how may I be of assistance?" Father asked.

"Well," Hoagie said thoughtfully as he ran the plan through his head, "we only have one snag."

"I'm listening," Father urged him on.

"See, we need to get back to the surface after our distraction has been set off and…"

"Whoa wait, what kind of distraction?"

"Once the mission is done, we're going to black-mail Numbuh 1 into letting us leave; he's going to set off a few bombs in the back regions of the cavern. While everyone freaks out, we bail."

"Subtle and violent at the same time," Father said stroking his chin, "I like it. Continue."

"But we're not sure if we can make it back to the surface fast enough for Numbuh 1 to catch up with us," Hoagie finished.

"What's with all the hate for Nigel?" Father asked, 'I though you two were best buds or something?"

"_Were_," Haogie said softly, "the KND changed him."

Father sighed as he saw the look of pure sadness on the boy's face.

"Y'know, we're not so different you and me," he said leaning back into his chair, "I also lost my best friend to the KND."

Hoagie looked up at him in almost disbelief.

"I know," Father chuckled, "weird huh? The Uno family has run Delightful Industries for almost 80 years now; we took over from the Wigglestien family during the Great Depression, fighting the KND all the way. When my father took over 40 years ago, he set out to bring th e about the greatest achievement of the company yet, and he did; enslaved all of childhood to work in his factories. Monty was the first born and the heir to the Uno throne and to inherit the Delightful Curse, and he was set on doing it, then he found that cruddy _Book of KND_. He said it opened his eyes, that what our family was doing was wrong, that…"

"I he didn't try to make a difference, who would?" Hoagie finished his sentence, "I know, Numbuh 1's only said it a million times."

Father smiled and was silent for a moment.

"Tell you what," he said eventually, "my base of operations is trashed and my expedition team is missing but…"

"Missing?"

"Yeah, they were attacked by something," Father shrugged, "I'm not even sure of the details. But anyway, I can send a car down to get you."

"Really?" Hoagie said in a surprised tone.

"Yeah once you guys head down there I'll send a Jeep to wait at the entrance, just send a signal 40 minutes before you need it and it'll be there."

'Awesome!" Hoagie exclaimed, then a skeptic look returned to his face, "wait, no offence, but what's in it for you?"

"All I want is one thing," Father said simply, "bring me Numbuh 1."

"Deal."

"Wonderful. More coffee?"

**

* * *

**

And introducing MOMO! I've been itching to bring this little guy in from the beginning of the fic.

**Look at that shiny new review button. Isn't it **_**preeeeeettttttttyyyyyyy?**_** Come on, give in to your inner child.**

**PRESS IT.**

**Dark**Mike


	15. Memories and Memoirs

**There may be a few more grammar/spelling errors than usual; I didn't get to give this one to my beta reader. D:**

* * *

**Chapter 15: Memories and Memoirs **

_13 Willow Street, Cleveland, 6 years earlier_

"Hey, hey, hey, that's my boy!"

Hoagie looked up proudly at his father. Gerry Gilligan knelt down to his 5 year old son's level. He picked up the item Hoagie had been working on for the last 20 minutes, and considering his short attention span, that was pretty impressive.

"Look Daddy!" the young boy exclaimed, "Ah made a aroflane!"

"I know, and what a beaut'" Gerry mused.

The 'plane' was in fact a pop bottle with a long piece of card stuck to the top, but that didn't matter; the fact that his son was going to follow the family blood was enough to make it look like a Boeing.

"What you going to call her?"

"I fink it's a Scampwa," Hoagie said looking thoughtful.

"A what?" his father said giving him a skew look, "we'll have to work on your naming, but, now that you have made your own plane, you're officially a pilot."

"Really?!" Hoagie almost squealed, his eyes widening.

"Yup," Gerry confirmed ruffling the boy's hair, "and every pilot needs the correct headgear."

He then reached up and took the worn aviator's cap from his head.

"Whoa Daddy," Hoagie said his eyes widening further, "oo' took your hat off."

"Yup, cause it's yours now," Gerry said warmly plopping it on his head, "there; now you look like a real pilot."

Hoagie vibrated with excitement. He let out squeal and jumped into his father's arms.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" he babbled, "You're the bestest Daddy EVER!"

There was a knock on the door and Gerry put down Hoagie to answer it. He opened the door to find Ben Uno on the other side.

"Gerry, how are you?" he said slyly, "may I come in."

Gerry narrowed his eyes.

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not really," Father said bluntly.

The two men walked into the living room where Hoagie was still busy playing with his toy plane.

"And this must be Hoagie," Ben said as he entered the room.

Hoagie turned around to identify the source of the voice but jumped back as he did. The left side of Bens face was completely black, his left hand too.

Ben frowned at his reaction.

"That's what happens when you sell your soul to the devil," Gerry said from behind him, "Hoagie, why don't you go show mommy your new hat?"

Hoagie just nodded and scooted out the room.

"It's weird, I never figured you as a family man," Ben said sitting down, "you gotta teach that kid some manners."

"I'm sorry if he's a little sensitive to your 'condition'," Gerry sneered, "It's not like he sees Two Face walking down the street every day."

"It's not a 'condition' its power," Ben said, seeming slightly annoyed, "something not you nor your pathetic family will ever experience."

"Can we cut to the chase please, Uno, or are you just going to keep insulting me."

"As tempting as that sounds, I am here on business," Father pulled a small electronic from his pocket he placed it on the coffee table in the center on the room and pressed a small button on top. A holographic 3D image of the word buzzed into view.

"I need you to make another flight," Ben began to explain; "You need to pick something up from a friend of mine."

A small red dot appeared on the hologram.

"There?" Gerry asked squinting at the image, "That's in the middle of the pacific ocean! There's nothing there!"

"Ah but there is; it's the secret complex of Dr. Sergio Fernandez," Ben smiled, "he, like myself, is in the child pacification business. He has recently developed something he's calling the 'Delightfulization Process'. I need you go and collect his research thus far."

"What exactly is this 'research'?" Gerry asked.

"He said it would be the ultimate advance in child restriction," Ben said grinning widely, "granting a parent the unopposed obedience from his or her children."

"That's sick," Gerry said a look of pure disgust on his face, "why would anyone want their kids to be zombies?"

"You'd be surprised," Ben said stroking his chin, "You can't possibly tell me you've never had any discipline problems with your kids?"

"Sure but that's part of parenting," Gerry said standing up, "how could you or this 'doctor' know anything about that? I know you don't have any kids and I'd bet my pilots license that doc' don't either."

"I didn't ask you to judge my business," Ben said picking up his electronic, "Now, you'll leave tomorrow I have your usual plane fueled and ready at 8 sharp. The runway on which you'll be landing is pretty small and conditions over there this time of year are pretty rough so I'd suggest a good night's sleep."

"And if I refuse?" Gerry asked folding his arms.

"You seem to think you have some choice in the matter," Ben said, "You can't refuse."

"Well I do, I refuse to be apart of something so twisted."

"Gerry I'm glad to see you've created such a wonderful life for yourself, now if you're smart you'll know that it will only stay that way if you do as I say," Ben said his voice filled with menace, "'cause we know what happens if I don't get exactly what I want."

Next day, Cleveland Domestic Airport

The Gilligan family stood together in front of terminal 2.

"I can't understand why they would call you in like this," Mrs. Gilligan said as she embraced her husband, "I thought you said you were on a break."

"Something came up," Gerry reassured his wife, "I'll be fine; the boss said I should be back by Tuesday."

He kissed her forehead and then the forehead of the infant in her arms. Tommy smiled and grabbed his father's goggles. Gerry chuckled and knelt down to face Hoagie who was huddled to his mother's leg, tears in his eyes.

"You said you weren't going again for a whole month," he huffed more tears running down his chubby cheeks.

"C'mon Ace, I'll only be gone a few days" Gerry lied wiping them away, "But while I'm gone I want you to remember this Hoagie; never believe any bad stories you hear about me, alright?"

Hoagie nodded and gave his dad a hug.

"And look after that hat," Gerry said smiling, "It's lucky."

_Present, Father's office_

Father smiled silently as he watched Hoagie board the truck that was to transport him to the Lost City dig site from a large window. Harrison looked up at his boss with a raised eyebrow; this was seriously weird; Father striking deals with children? And this one was even in the Kids Next Door! It made no blimming sense. Father cast his gaze down at his assistant for a moment and laughed.

"I can understand why you're confused, Harrison," Father smiled, "but this young man is making our job five times simpler."

"How are you so sure of that?"

"He's a Gilligan; you'd be surprised at what he's capable of."

Harrison thought for a moment.

"Y-you've dealt with a Gilligan before, I assume," he eventually said.

"Yes," Father said walking back to his desk, "Hoagie's father actually."

Harrison scurried after him, "This lad's own father?"

"Indeed," Father settled into his chair and lit his pipe, "Gerry Gilligan, he worked as a courier pilot for Delightful Industries till about, oh I dunno, 7 years ago, best damn one we've had to date, mind you."

"What happened?" Harrison asked, truly enthralled by the story.

"The bastard had kids," Father sighed, "He started to doubt our business. The last pick-up I gave him was to fetch the Delightfulization Dr. Fernandez was working on."

"And?"

"He went awol; picked up the cargo and crashed his plane into the pacific. I was a rather pathetic attempt at heroics, if you ask me, considering the fact that the Delightfulization chamber was developed anyway."

"D'you think he survived, sir?" Harrison asked.

"I'll bet my fortune on it," Father sighed again, "but he can't come back."

"Why?"

"I warned him," Father grinned, "I had a feeling old Gerry would try a stunt like that so I had a few thing arranged. When the air crash investigation started they came across evidence that Mr. Gilligan wasn't traveling alone; planted woman's belongings and statements from bribed airport personnel confirmed that his ex-lover, Olivia Fulbright, was traveling with him. When neither bodies were found, poor, grieving Mrs. Gilligan was able to put two and two together."

Harrison smiled as he figured it out himself.

"S-so the family thought he'd run off with this Ol-olivia," he exclaimed, "sir, that's brilliant!"

"So be assured when I say that when a Gilligan sets his mind on something, he goes through with it," Father smiled.

Harrison's face fell again as he thought about the twelve year old in the aviator cap.

"B-but sir," he said, "he's still just a kid."

"No he isn't," Father grinned, "not anymore."

_The Lost City dig site_

The sun was sitting just above the horizon as the 4 J.E. pulled up to the dig base. The place was in ruins; tents were knocked down and torn to pieces and equipment lay strewn everywhere. As the group disembarked Moosk approached one of the many Delightful Industries transport trucks scattered around the site, it was lying on its side. It had huge claw marks gouged into it everywhere.

"This look like claws of big cat," he said running his finger along the twisted metal, which seemed to have been torn like a wet tissue, "but if to make marks like this cat would had to have been big as grizzly bear."

"Can I point out something painfully obvious?" Wally asked as he scanned his surroundings.

"Go for it," Vuyani smiled.

"Something went very wrong here."

"Indeed," Vuyani chuckled, "but the question is what."

"Dr. Dennis?" Nigel queried.

Michael was on his knees, inspecting a piece of stone about the size of a basketball obviously brought up from the dig.

"There appear to be hieroglyphs on this stone," he said motioning for Natalie to come and take a look, "but it's nothing like the Basugian text I've seen."

Natalie bent over to study it for a moment before turning to the group.

"That's because is Egyptian," she said in her usual expressionless tone, "and Arabic and Greek and Moroccan."

"But if Numbuh 5 isn't wrong," Abby said thoughtfully, "those are all Mediterranean civilizations, whey would script from the Mediterranean be this far south?"

Without replying, Michael bolted off into the campsite, Natalie following behind. Abby stood blinking for a second before turning to Nigel for guidance.

"I think the good doctor has the right idea," Nigel said, "Spread and search; lets see if we can find out what the hell happened here."

As the group dissipated Moosk walked over to where Vuyani was standing. The African sector leader had been staring at the claw marks on another wrecked truck for the last few minutes; a look of worry and distraught in his eyes. Moosk peered over his shoulder.

"What you say your ethnic background is?" he said making Vuyani jump slightly.

"I didn't," Vuyani said clutching his chest, "Xhosa, with a little Sotho."

"That is strange," Moosk said grinning, "Your hair, it is light brown not black like rest of African peoples."

"It's a family thing; my father has it as well."

"Indeed, but it makes Moosk think you are not Xhosa."

"I don not see where you are going with this," Vuyani said, a slight quiver in his voice.

"Moosk had a comrade in DRC," the large man continued, "helped Moosk hunt down dreaded Bowtie-Constrictor; he had light hair and dark skin, just like comrade Vuyani."

The boy remained silent, still staring down at the wreckage.

"He was Basugian, just like comrade Vuyani."

Vuyani turned to look at the Russian.

"Say nothing, Moosk does not worry why you lie," Moosk said still smiling, "but he does see how you look at claw marks, like you know something."

"nXd'bwe," Vuyani said sadly, "Twilights."

"Explain," Moosk urged him on.

"I used to think they were just stories my father used to stop me from leaving my bed at night," he continued, "The Twilights are damned creatures, not living but not dead. They are said to be used by the Death God to drag the ungodly to hell. They are shape shifters, but are most commonly depicted as huge cats with claws able to slice a man in two."

"Interesting," Moosk said slowly stroking his chin.

There was a moment of silence before Vuyani looked up at the man.

"There is a reason we are the forgotten people," he said sadly, "there is no honor in being a Basugian; we are considered to be the most blasphemous and cowardly of all the great tribes. I hope I have not insulted you with my deceit."

Moosk laughed.

"Not to worry, comrade," he said putting his arm around the boy's shoulders, "what is little lie between friends? But Moosk does think you must at least tell comrade 1 and the doctor about Twilights."

"Agreed."

Nigel walked cautiously, the gravely sand crunching beneath his feet; it seemed the place was empty, but one couldn't be too careful. Nigel stopped and cursed under his breath and rubbed his thigh as pain from his bullet wound began to return. Tasmin had warned him about this; she had said that the bullet had severed several tendons and muscles and that it was going to hurt to walk for a while, but he hadn't expected it to last this long. He pulled out a small bottle of capsules and looked at it for a moment; then popped it open and poured three into his hand. Closing the bottle he lifted his hand to pop them in his mouth, but he was stopped by a hand on his wrist. He looked up to see Kuki's worried face looking at him.

"How many of these have you had today?" she demanded.

"My leg hurts," Nigel said simply and shook her hand off, tossing the pills in his mouth.

He turned and started to walk off but stumbled. Kuki walked over and wrapped her arms around his right one to support him.

"Let me help you with that," she said grinning.

They started walking together in silence.

"Anything on your mind, Kuki?" Nigel asked looking down at the girl's thoughtful expression.

"I'm worried about you boss," she said looking up at him, "these pills, your leg, your nightmares, no to mention you seemed seriously stressed about Hoagie and Abby."

"Everything is falling apart, Kooks," Nigel sighed, "The KND, Sector V, my friends, I think I have some reason to be a little stressed."'

"Well I kinda expected this," Kuki said solemnly.

Nigel looked down at her, surprise apparent.

"What?" she asked.

"Who are you and what have you done with Numbuh 3?"

"Oh come on," Kuki said elbowing him, "you of all people should know me better."

"I know, I know," Nigel chuckled, "I'm just yanking your chain."

His smile evaporated, as he started to look thoughtful again.

"Don't worry Nigie," said smiling, "No matter what you got me."

"Thanks Kuki," Nigel said hugging her with on arm, "I can honestly say you're about the only friend I have right now."

There was a shuffle from one of the tents and the two stopped. Nigel pulled his pistol from its holster on his belt and motioned for Kuki to stay behind him. They approached the tent slowly as more movement was heard from inside. Nigel reached for the entrance flap and glanced over his shoulder at Kuki who gave a nod. He yanked the flap open to find Hoagie sitting on a chair reading a magazine. He stood up as they entered.

"Whoa, whoa, boss" he said raising his hands with a grin, "Don't shoot."

Kuki launched forward into a hug.

"Oh my god, Hoagie!" she squealed into his chest, "You had us so worried."

"Well I'm fine," Hoagie said his eyes locked with Nigel's, who was glaring at him.

"How, may I ask, did you escape?" the Brit asked raising an eyebrow.

"Wasn't hard," Hoagie said smugly, "managed to bust out of my cell and sneak onto one of the supply trucks coming out here."

"So you saw what happened?" Kuki asked.

"Nope, place was trashed when I got here," Hoagie continued, "The truck left in a real hurry though."

"Well let's get back to the others," Kuki chimed, "Abby has been SO worried about you."

"Look who we found!" Kuki sang as they approached the others; they had returned from their search and were setting up camp for the night.

"Hey everyon-ahhhhhhh!" Hoagie yelped as he was tackle-hugged by Abby, knocking him off his feet.

"Don't you ever do that again Hoagie Gilligan," she demanded sitting on top of him, "D'you hear me?!"

"Yes ma'am, "Hoagie smiled, "now will you get off."

They stood up and walked over to the rest of the group. Hoagie getting hugs, handshakes and back-pats from everyone. He turned to Dean who was sitting inside one of the J.E. watching a portable TV, a very serious look on his face.

"Hey come on, man," Hoagie called out to him, "where's the love? Didn't you miss me?"

"Hey shut-up and listen," Dean yelled back, turning up the volume as everyone gathered around.

"…and our top story of the hour," the anchorman was saying, "Kids Next Door leader Rachel Mackenzie has been called to stand before the Security Council today to answer for the controversial acts of the organization she runs. When asked to comment, Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said that they just wanted to find some common grounds between the KND and the UN. This is following the battle in Jerusalem last month. We now take you live to New York with Isaac Unenguwe. Isaac can you hear me?"

The picture of the African man filled the screen; he paused for a moment.

"Yes Joel, I can hear you loud and clear."

"Can you describe what's happening around you?"

"Well, Joel, the atmosphere is thick here in Manhattan; adult and child alike are gathered here at the UNO headquarters awaiting the arrival of Numbuh 362 A number of KND aircraft landed in the parking lot a few minutes ago and the kids that emerged from them now seem to checking the parameter to make sure it's safe for their leader. I gotta hand it to these kids, they're as professional as any government security detail I've seen. Oh wait, here she is."

The camera panned to show a KND E.L.I.M.O.N.A.T.E.R descending onto the drive.

"The craft seems to be constructed from a limo, the back of an airliner and four ceiling fans, incredible! "

A KND agent run to the door of the E.L.I.M.O.N.A.T.E.R and opened it. Rachel stepped out dressed in her full Soopreme Commander uniform which triggered the paparazzi; cameras started flashing everywhere as hundreds of reporters began yelling at her. Patton stepped out of the car after her and took her arm.

"We should be getting inside," he said.

Rachel nodded and allowed herself to be rushed up the stairs, reporters flooding around her, as she disappeared into the building.

Nigel switched the TV off and sighed.

"Well, that's not a good thing," he said, "now lets get finished with camp; first thing tomorrow, we're going in."

_UNO Headquarters, Manhattan Island, New York_

"So what you're trying to tell me," Ban Ki Moon said slowly, "is that the Kids Next Door is a global network of highly trained children fighting for kids rights and the safety of the world?"

"Yes, sir," Rachel said, "we've been operating for over two hundred years."

There was a droning mumble between the 15 other men sitting around the board table with them.

"How was it possible for you to keep this a secret for so long?" a second Asian man in his fifties asked.

"We're not sure ourselves," Rachel said and then laughed nervously, "I mean, c'mon, we have these 50ft tree houses all over the world, I'd think you guys would have noticed by now."

"The United Nations has better things to do than worry themselves with the actions of children," Moon said without a hint of emotion, "but these recent events have forced us to take action, are you aware of our concerns?"

"I got the memo, but have barley had time to look it over," Rachel said sheepishly, "We had a little incident with the decommissioning of a rouge sector, third this year, so its been a bit crazy."

The room was silent as it stared at Rachel.

"Yes, I'm sure you have," Moon finally said picking up a piece of paper, "well let me give you just of it; we have been getting reports of inappropriate child behavior from all over the world, everything from drug dealing to sexual intercourse. We believe the reason for this being the fact that there are millions of children within your '_organization_' who are able to live freely without adult supervision."

"I assure you, sir," Rachel spoke up, "we have very strict policies, and rouge operatives found acting outside of these policies are dealt with immediately."

"And how do you deal with these_ 'rouges'_as you call them?" a South American man asked.

"Decommissioning, sir," the bond 12 year old said.

"So what; you give them a slap on the hand and just let these rouges into the world, chock full of advanced weapons, aeronautics and hand to hand combat training?"

"No sir, decommissioning entails having your mind wiped, you leave with no memory of your experiences in the KND,"

The South American sat back.

"Mind wipe technology is relatively new, and even so it is being kept secret by the American government," Moon stated, "do you honestly expect us to believe that mere children have had this tech for over two hundred years?"

"You underestimate us, sir," Rachel frowned, "see, we get a hold of young minds before the adult world is able undermine them, we've had our fair share of geniuses."

Moon looked down at his paper again.

"And what do you have to say about these inappropriate acts?" he asked, "if you believe that these _'policies' _are an adequate substitute for adult supervision, what do you blame this misbehavior on?"

"Let's face it, people," Rachel sighed, "the innocence of childhood has all but disappeared, our usual way of going about things is that when a child reaches 13 he or she is officially a teenager, the age where the adult world makes the biggest impression, and we all know how teenagers can be…"

There where several nods and an 'Amen to that'.

"…so we simply decommission all operatives at age 13. But these days kids are being exposed to these things at a much younger age causing them to grow up faster, you'll notice that the majority of the serious offenders are either 11 or 12 years old, sadly this is because 11 is the new 13. Our BDK, or Board of Directing Kids, is busy with the difficult decision of whether to bring the decom age down to 11."

"So let me get this straight," Moon said sitting back and readjusting his glasses, "you blame **us** for your rouge operatives?"

"Not exactly the way I'd put it," Rachel said shrugging, "but yes."

"Young lady how dare you," Moon began to say, but was cut off by Rachel.

"Since its founding, the KND has fought for kids rights, fought against adult tyranny," she said standing up, "we rejoiced with the come of the 21st century, children finally had the rights they needed. But our victory was short lived, as we realized we now face an even more difficult task; trying to right the wrongs you adults are forcing on the youth of today. Children aren't shooting each other because we trained them to use a gun; they're shooting each other because every day they turn on the TV and see a war, a war you** adults** started. They aren't screwing at age nine because we aren't strict enough; they're doing it because sex is shoved in their faces by every single **adult** media form. I refuse to sit here and listen to you try to blame problems on us you don't even understand. It's hard I get it, _believe_ me I get it, but the KND will not be a social punching bag. While you claim to be trying to better the world for children, we're doing what's really important; trying to save their **childhood**, but that's really hard when we have a bunch of stuffy adults like yourselves interfering. If you really want to blame someone, go back to blaming yourselves; it makes our job a lot easier. Good day, sir."

Rachel then turned and began to walk towards the door, her security following behind.

"Wait a second," Moon said smugly from his chair at the head of the table.

The girl turned to look at him.

"I can believe everything you just said, but what I can't believe is that you're as holey as you make out to be."

Rachel narrowed her eyes.

"I run one of the biggest organizations in the world, and I've dealt with many, many others, and the one thing my experience has taught me is that nothing, not even something run by children, is free from corruption, and the way that you have acted now has given me all the signs that the virus runs deep through your little kiddy club. Quite frankly the UN doesn't have to do anything to shut down the Kids Next Door; you, Miss Mackenzie, will do it for us."

The Korean then gave a smug grin and sat back in his chair. Rachel spun and made for the door, Patton briskly moving to her side.

"Sir, are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Rachel responded quickly.

They left the building, reporters again coming from all directions. One got close enough to shove a microphone in the Soopreme commander's face. She stopped figuring she should at least say something.

"Miss Mackenzie," the reported said into the microphone, "could you please comment on the outcome of the meeting?"

"The United Nations refuses to take the Kids Next Door seriously," Rachel said calmly, "and until this is resolved there will be no way for us to come to any sort of agreement. No further questions."

She then ducked her head and allowed Patton to get her into the E.L.I.M.O.N.A.T.E.R. He climbed into the front and took the wheel.

"Wowee, those reporters are like a pack of wolves," he laughed as he glanced at his leader t\through the rear view mirror.

"Shut the divider, Numbuh 60," Rachel said quietly, "I need some time to myself."

"Yes sir," Patton mumbled as she slid the plastic sheet shut.

He reached for the ignition switch but paused for a moment. He could hear soft sobbing coming from the back. He sighed and shook his before flipping the switch and allowing the sound of the engine to drown it out.

* * *

**This took a while, I know. Writers Block struck me half way and I ended up putting the completion of the chapter to the bottom of my to-do list. For that I apologize. Jeez that's all I seem to be doin' in my A/Ns, huh? Ah well.**

**Review if it's good, review if it sucks, review if you're PISSED OFF at my tardiness.**

**The bottom line; ****Review.**

**Dark**Mike


	16. Inevitable

**Hey people, can you believe we're on chapter 16? I can't.**

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**Chapter 16: Inevitable**

_Kids Next Door Moonbase_

Nigel stood triumphantly at the door of his sector's S.C.A.M.P.E.R to the roar of an awaiting crowd. Cameras flashed, people cheered and girls screamed as he stepped down the ramp, he was followed by his sector as they walked through the parted crowd towards the office of Rachel Mackenzie. Hoagie walked up behind him and threw his arm over Nigel's shoulders.

"Great work out there, boss," he said with a huge grin, "your idea to have Sector S off the mission and get them arrested was genius!"

"Fo' sure!" Abby called as she also came to walk beside the bald Brit, "and Numbuh 5 just wants to thank you for settin' me and Numbuh 2 straight; we where on a road to disaster, and only through your fantastic leadership skills have we come to realize how honorable it is to take our decommissioning with pride, whatever the outcome."

"And thank you SOOOOOOOO much for my new Rainbow Monkey!" Kuki squealed from behind them, "Only something this plushy could remind me how happy and careless life really is."

"Yeah, man," Wally cheered giving a huge thumbs up, "You ROCK! I can honestly say things are back to normal."

Nigel smiled broadly as they reached the Soopreme Commander's office door. He turned and gave his team a sharp salute. They returned it and he pushed open the large wooden doors to enter the office. As the doors swung softly closed, Nigel turned to the direction of his leader's desk and his jaw dropped; there was Rachel Mackenzie sitting cross legged on her desk, sporting a simple black cocktail dress which rose to just above her knees and hugged her body showing off her developing curves, black heels and an assortment of bangles and other jewelry. Her blond hair hung loose and a few strands hung promiscuously over her face. As he stared at her she stared back; the makeup around her eyes sharpening her already piercing grey-blue eyes. Nigel grinned and started to approach the desk, noticing a large bottle and two Champaign glasses beside her. He stood in front of her at attention and she eyed him up and down a couple of times.

"Numbuh 1 of Sector V reporting," he said professionally, but with a mischievous grin.

"At ease, soldier," Rachel replied, her voice alluring, "I assume you've come to give me a report on the outcome of your mission to South Africa?"

"I have," Nigel said, widening his legs slightly and placing his hands behind his back, "the mission was a success; Father was defeated and the artifact from the lost city recovered."

"Well then," the blond haired beauty in front of him said, leaning over to computer and switching off office surveillance, "I think its time to celebrate."

She picked up the bottle beside her and poured them a glass each. She handed one to Nigel who looked at the bubbling liquid peculiarly.

"Is this actual Champaign?" he asked.

"Of course silly," Rachel giggled, "what would a celebration like this be without it? Besides, I heard you've grown a bit of a taste for booze?"

Nigel grinned again, "There is simply nothing in this organization you don't know about."

Rachel smiled back and raised her glass.

"To your success," she said.

Nigel raised his glass to hers and there was a small ting as they connected. The two 12 year olds then took a sip. Nigel brought his glass away from his face to see Rachel had already finished hers; she was staring at him again as she leaned against the desk. Nigel knew a cue when he saw one. He leaned into her, putting his glass down on the desk. Their faces were millimeters apart; Nigel could now smell the perfume Rachel was wearing. It was too much. His face shot forward as he passionately kissed her. She returned the kiss with the same energy, wrapping her arms around him. Nigel leaned in further, still lip locked, causing Rachel to bend over backwards onto the desk. Her hands explored his back as she allowed herself to be laid down. Nigel was kissing her neck now and caressing her arm with his one hand, Rachel giving soft moans of pleasure. The brit's hand ran up her arm, onto her shoulder and found her dress strap. Nigel played with it for a bit before raising his head to look Rachel in the eyes. Her face was flustered, her hair messy and her eyes wild. She glanced down at what he was holding in his hand and looked back at him, nodding. Nigel slowly began to pull the strap over her shoulder, doing the same with his other hand on the other strap. He then at the same pace began to lower the neckline of the dress. Rachel closed her eyes as he pulled it down until…

Nigel was on an operating table. Shocked by his sudden surroundings he tried to get up, only to find he was strapped down. He panicked and began to furiously tug at the leather straps.

"Nigie, Nigie, Nigie," a familiar voice rang from somewhere to his left, "I am so proud."

Nigel recognized the voice immediately to be his uncle's. He turned his head to look at his villainous relative but said nothing. Father was standing over a basin washing his hands. He turned around holding them up in front of his face and walked over to the table Nigel was laying on.

"That was one hell of a dream you were having there," Father grinned, "got my heart rate going."

"Pedophile," Nigel sneered.

"Hey, I'm not the one who had the dream of going down on a twelve year old," Father said defensively, he was now sorting a number of surgical instruments on a tin tray.

Once he had them all laid out he turned back to Nigel.

"Lust, passion, desire," he mused, "very teenage feelings."

"My 13th is coming up," Nigel spat, "what would you expect?"

"Hey don't get me wrong," Father laughed, "I'm proud. See I have a little problem."

"I really couldn't care less," Nigel said, "but seeing as I'm not going anywhere I can only suspect you're going to tell me anyway."

"Very perceptive," Father rolled eyes, "I could do without the sarcasm, y'know, I don't like this any more than you."

"What?"

"My time as Father is coming to a close," he continued to explain, "And by that I mean I have to give up everything; my powers, my position, my minions, everything."

"So you're closing down Delightful Industries?" Nigel asked.

"No, see, that company has been in our family for generations, and the way it works is that when someone is done being Father, they need to find an heir."

"No," Nigel said, his eyes widening as he realized what was being implied, "never."

"I see you see where I'm going with this," Father said smiling, "and never say never, my boy."

"I can't believe you would even consider that," Nigel said, almost amused, "I've spent my entire childhood fighting you, and _now_ you expect me to come over to the dark side? To become you?"

"It's not that hard to believe," Father sighed, "I was, at one point, a child too, y'know."

Nigel looked as if he was about to say something, but stopped to think.

"I was just like you too," Father continued, "me and Monty got into seven shades of shit 'fighting for our rights', can you imagine what it was like having a Father for a dad?"

Nigel smiled at the thought.

"It was a hell of a lot of fun," his uncle laughed, but then became sullen, "but when he started enslaving kids, I got a whiff of what the real world is actually like and backed out of my trouble making ways, I learnt then that you don't bite the hand that feeds you. Monty on the other hand had just found that infernal Book of KND and he rushed off to save the world. He succeeded, Grandfather was defeated and decommissioned and whereas this was great for the world of kids, for me, it was a nightmare. Monty was the eldest, he was supposed to inherit my father's fortunes and become the next Father; but seeing as he brought about the downfall of Grandfather, it was decided that he was unfit to take on the gift. I was the next in line and so at age 11, I was placed in charge of Delightful Industries. I was shown how to unlock _Flamabbatis_, the Father Flame, which is what gives me and every Father before me our powers. It is something that runs through the veins of every Uno but only begins to show its-self as puberty approaches."

"I don't believe you," Nigel said shaking his head, "there is no way I posses something so fricking evil!"

"I figured you wouldn't," Father grinned picking up a scalpel.

"What are you doing?" Nigel demanded as he lent in with it towards Nigel's chest.

"Showing you something," Father said, "and don't worry this _is _a dream."

To Nigel's utmost horror, Father started to make a precise cut down his torso. Nigel screamed and Father laughed.

"If you stopped squealing you'd notice that it doesn't hurt," he said, still chuckling.

Nigel stopped. He was right; it didn't hurt. Father finished the cut and placed the bloody scalpel on the tray. He then stuck his fingers under Nigel's skin and lifted it up. Nigel though he was going to get sick. He shut his eyes and pleaded himself to wake up.

"Look down," Father said loosening Nigel's wrist straps slightly.

"There is no way in HELL that you're going to get…"

"For God's sake, look down Nigel, its not that bad."

Nigel took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes. He looked down at his chest expecting to see gore, but it wasn't, in fact it was very neat; he could clearly see his ribcage and beneath it his beating heart. His lungs rose and fell beside it. There was no blood at all.

"This is incredible," he said in awe.

"Yeah well, don't go getting a Ph D over it, this is NOT what it's actually like, trust me," Father rolled his eyes, "I want you to look at your heart."

Nigel glanced down at his vital organ and scrunched up his face. There seemed to be some sort of light coming from within it; it flickered like paper lantern.

"That right there my boy, is Flamabbatis," Father said proudly, he picked up the scalpel again and grabbed one of his nephew's arms, the boy was too enthralled by his heart to notice. He had another cut and lifted the skin again to reveal Nigel's bicep. He tapped him on the side of the head and Nigel turned to look at his arm. His eyes widened further as he saw the same strange light coming from within each of his muscles.

"Why are none of my other body parts glowing?" he asked his uncle, who had now begun so sow the hole closed.

"Flamabbatis is centered in the heart, the source of your most powerful emotions; love, hate, anger, pain, trust ect. The flame is generated by these emotions and is transferred through the arms where it is manifested," Father explained as he began to work on Nigel's chest, "you've seen before how I manage to spread the flame all over my body? It all starts in the arms."

The British sector leader shook his head, disgusted as he realized he was so interested in what his arch rival had to say.

"Even if I do posses this Flama-whatever," he said, "why would I betray my friends? Betray the Kids Next Door."

"It seems to me that they're the ones betraying you," Father said placing the stitches on the tray.

Nigel hung his head slightly. Father undid his restraints and allowed the boy to sit up. He tossed him a shirt and Nigel put it on. Father grabbed a chair and sat down in front of him.

"My brother was a fool to allow the KND to overshadow his birthright," Father said sternly, "those five kids you battled with two years ago are gone, Nigel; they're changing, mostly for the worse, whereas you, you can change for the better."

"I feel like I'm loosing everything important to me," Nigel said softly, "and you are _sick_ to take advantage of me at this dire time. I reject your offer."

"I was afraid you'd say that," Father sighed.

He lashed out and grabbed Nigel's hand.

"What the…" Nigel began to ask.

Suddenly Father's hand burst into flames. Nigel screamed again, because this time, it hurt.

"Listen to me good, Nigel Uno," Father demanded, "everything you hold dear, everything you will so easily fight for _will _eventually betray you. You're dealing with fate here, my boy, something inevitable."

Father removed his hand leaving Nigel's severely burnt. The boy clutched his hand looked at his manic uncle who was frowning.

"You can't run from this Nigel," he said, "with your father, there was an alternative; but this time there's no one else."

He then raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

_Lost City dig site_

Nigel sat up screaming in agony. Kuki rushed into his tent to see her leader bent over double on his sleeping bag, clutching his hand. Wally stumbled in after her and his eyes widened.

"What the…" he started to say.

"Get me the medical kit," Kuki cut him off, her voice calm, "quickly."

Wally rushed off as Kuki knelt down to inspect Nigel's injury.

"It was a dream," Nigel mumbled in disbelief, "I swear it was a dream."

Kuki looked confused.

"A dream burnt you?" she asked.

"No, Father did," Nigel said laying back, "hand me my pills."

"Father burnt you in your dream?" Kuki said, still confused, "How is that possible?"

"I don't know," he said cringing, "just give me my pills."

"I dunno," Kuki said picking up the bottle, "I should look at your burn to determine…"

"JUST GIVE ME THE DAMN BOTTLE!" Nigel yelled, a dim light seeming to glow from his arms.

Kuki handed him his medication, a hurt look on her face. Nigel scratched the cap off and threw three of the capsules into his mouth.

"What was the dream about?" Kuki asked in a small but stern voice, staring down at the ground.

"Just another nightmare," Nigel said quickly, "same old usual thing."

"No usual nightmare could do this!" it was Kuki's turn to yell, "Now stop lying to me."

Nigel hung his head.

"You said I was the only friend you had," Kuki said desperately, "well friends don't lie to each other."

"I'm going to be the next Father," Nigel sighed.

Kuki's eyes widened.

"You can't be serious," she said, but then made the connection, her face fell, "He has no children, you are the only heir, but that doesn't mean you _have _too."

"It's fate," Nigel whimpered, sitting up.

"No," Kuki said shaking her head and grabbing his shoulders, "my grandfather always said that one man never knows another man's fate, we choose our own destiny. You have too many friends on this side to have any reason to become Father."

"Friends?" Nigel spat, "Abby and Hoagie hate me!"

"No, I'm sure they're…" Kuki tried to reason.

"They're what?" Nigel demanded, "They're growing up, that's what! We all are!"

His voice softened slightly.

"I mean just look at you, Kuki, where's that happy-go-lucky attitude? Even you've changed."

Kuki looked down at the floor.

"Everyone has to grow up, Nigel," she said, a single tear running down her face and splashing onto the floor, "but that doesn't mean you have to give up."

Nigel looked at her and sighed.

"Kuki you're right," he said, "I'm sorry. I promise not to give up if you do."

Kuki smiled and hugged him.

"I promise," she said from within the embrace.

Wally walked in to find them like this.

"Uh, I've got the med kit," he said awkwardly.

Nigel and Kuki immediately split.

"Good," Kuki said opening it and talking several items out, "Thanks Numbuh 4."

Nigel looked at Wally with an apologetic look on his face. The Aussie just narrowed his eyes and stormed out. Nigel sighed again; now even Wally hated him.

Dean woke with a startle as Nigel's scream echoed throughout the campsite. He sat up, his eyes were blurred and his head was pounding. He shut his eyes tight to try and focus them and felt something moving beside him.

"Ahhh, my head," it mumbled.

"You should feel mine," Dean replied absent mindedly.

There was a moment of silence between them, followed by realization.

"Tasmin?" Dean asked painfully.

"Aw, crap," Tasmin replied.

The two of them roses quickly to their feet; Dean was shirtless with his jeans on and Tasmin was in her panties and a tank-top.

"Shit," Dean exclaimed, "What happened?!"

"I dunno," Tasmin said placing her hand on her forehead to think.

Dean looked around to see joint-stumps everywhere.

"Fuck; we were high," he said, panicking, "Why were we high?"

"We were upset," Tasmin offered, "about Sibz."

There was another moment of silence.

"Did we…?" Tasmin asked worriedly looking at Dean.

"I don't think so," he said, "I mean we're still, like, semi-dressed."

"Argh, I don't remember anything," Tasmin clutched her head again.

"Good thing too," a voice came from the entrance to the tent, "'cause _I _ain't ever gonna forget."

They spun around to find Abby standing behind them with a huge grin on her face.

"What are you talking about?" Tamin demanded.

"Numbuh 5 doesn't what the hell you were smokin', but you were defiantly drinkin' some kind of love potion," Abby laughed.

"We didn't actually…" Dean asked.

"No, but you got close," Abby said resuming her grin, "you're lucky you passed out."

"Why the hell were you spying on us anyway?" Tasmin ask angrily.

"This is my tent!" Abby exclaimed.

Silence.

"Man, that was some good shit," Dean laughed nervously.

"You're not gonna tell anyone are you?" Tasmin asked.

"Maybe Hoagie," Abby said, "but not Michelle, if that's what you're wondering, Numbuh 5 is enjoying this _way _too much to end it."

She turned and left.

Tasmin kicked over a chair.

"Crap!" she cursed, and glared at her almost lover.

Dean just gave a sheepish grin and shrugged.

_CEO's Office, Father's Lair_

Father's eyes opened. He smiled to himself; perfect.

"I s-see everything went according to plan?" Harrison asked from beside him.

"Not exactly," Father said straightening his reclining chair, "but good enough."

"So Nigel's going to join us?"

"Yup."

"Did he say that," Harrison asked, surprised.

"No," Father grinned, "but he will. I have a still have one last trick up my sleeve."

"Oh, I-I almost forgot," Harrison grabbed a file off Father's desk, "We received word from Agent 9 and Henrietta while you were out."

"And?" Father asked eagerly snatching the file from his assistant.

"Th-they're still unsure about what attacked them, and most of the team is, well, dead, but they're all right."

"Did you inform them of the KND's approach?"

"Yes," Harrison smiled, "They' say they have more than enough resources to set an ambush."

"Excellent."

_Soopreme Commander's office, Moonbase_

Rachel watched herself on the TV above her desk.

"The United Nations refuses to take the Kids Next Door seriously and until this is resolved there will be no way for us to come to any sort of agreement. No further questions."

"That was the statement given by KND 'Soopreme Commander' Rachel Mackenzie yesterday after her meeting with the Security Council. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon continued to say that the Kids Next Door 'are unfit to control the resources they had' and that the United Nations wouldn't stop until the KND and its leaders were brought to justice. In sports news, the 2007 IRB Rugby world cup kicks off in just a few days and…"

Rachel turned it off. And lay her head on the table just as Herbie burst in.

"No, Numbuh 362, ma'am," he exclaimed "turn it back on and go to Channel 3."

Rachel wearily picked up the remote.

"If this is about another Harry Potter book release," she said, "I really don't…"

"Just turn it on!"

She flicked the switch on the 2x4 remote and an image of Father appeared on screen."

"…and it is at this time," he was saying, "I would like announce my retirement."

Rachel dropped the remote. There was an eruption of questions as those attending the press conference clambered to get them selves heard. Father pointed to a young female reporter and the room hushed.

"So if you're retiring, who will be taking your place as CEO of Delightful Industries?" she said.

"I was getting to that," Father continued, "I know my share holders aren't going to be happy about this, but my successor will be none other that my nephew Nigel Uno."

A picture of Nigel appeared on the wall behind him.

"But he can't be more than 13 years old!" another reported exclaimed.

"I am well aware of that," Father smiled, "but have plenty of faith in him; he knows my business inside out and is more than capable."

"So when will the handover of power take place?" the first reporter asked.

"We're not sure of the details yet," Father said, "but Mr. Uno will be giving a press conference of him own soon. That will be all."

Father turned and left the stage. Rachel couldn't stop staring at the image of Nigel on the wall. The camera zoomed in on his face; he was smiling, his eyes not showing a care in the world. Herbie switched the TV off again.

"Commissioner 847 wants to see you," he said turning back to Rachel.

"Figures," she said straightening her hair, an irritated look on her face, "send him in."

Herbie left and a few moments later a stuffy looking 12 year old in a suit stepped in holding a briefcase. He was wearing a suit, and his hair was slicked back, a large badge on his chest read KND: IIB.

"Commissioner," Rachel smiled, "what can I do for you?"

The boy gave a curt salute and sat down.

"I assume you've seen the news," he said.

"Just saw it," Rachel sighed.

"Then you will have to understand my _great_ concern."

"I know, I do," Rachel said, "but don't you think this is just Father trying to stir this up, y'know, following the UN meeting."

"I don't know if we can take a chance," the Commissioner said sternly, "this is the third operative in sector V that has come to our attention."

He handed Rachel a file from his briefcase.

"I have here a request for the immediate recall of Sector V from their current operation, I have the entire council's backing; all it needs is your signature."

"You can have him as soon as he returns from Southern Africa, same as Numbuh 2 and 5," Rachel said tossing the file onto her desk and folding her arms, "I don't see something as menial as a outlandish statement from Father as reason enough to interrupt such a high priority mission. Your request is denied."

"I know you and Sector V are rather close," the Commissioner said calmly, "I hope that personal relations are not interfering with your judgement."

"How dare question my reasoning," Rachel said crossly, "your request is denied, Commissioner, that is my decision, and if you value your job I would suggest you stop challenging me and drop it, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good, you're dismissed."

The boy stood and gave a salute before leaving. As soon as he was out of sight, Rachel fell back into her chair and sighed. Herbie entered with a worried look on his face.

"I want you to dig up all you can on this," she ordered him, "leave no rock unturned."

"Yes ma'am," Herbie said, "but you're going to have to say something to the rest of the KND, there is gonna be one hell of an uproar."

"You're right; schedule an emergency press conference for first thing tomorrow."

"Yes ma'am, "he said again, and was about to turn to leave when he stopped, ""You don't believe it, do you?"

"I don't want to believe it," Rachel said softly, "but honestly, I don't know what to believe anymore."

_Lost City dig site_

Wally sat on top of a dune, looking out at the desert. He had his knees hugged up to his chin and a small warm breeze blew his hair gently about. Tasmin had been right; he had gotten the dry, sandy wasteland he had been expecting. The horizon was lined with a feint orange glow as if dawn was begging to break, but the night was suppressing it for just a little while longer. His thoughts flew about his head; the image of Kuki and Nigel hugging flashing in front of his closed eyes frequently. He knew not to think anything of it, Nigel and Kuki had grown a lot closer as friends over the last few years and ol' Nigie was going through a tough time, Kuki was just being herself and trying to comfort the poor guy. But the scene had once again reminded him of the fact that time was running out, he had been harboring this crush for two years now and besides a few 'almost's he wasn't any closer to admitting his feelings for Kuki to Kuki. They were 13 in a few months time and after that she would forget all about him, and he probably all about her. He punched the sand and cursed only to hear movement behind him.

"Whoa, watch the language," Kuki said as she approached, "you might damage my innocent mind."

She stood beside him, "Mind if I join you?"

Wally grunted a response and the raven haired beauty sat down beside him with her legs crossed. They sat in silence for a few moments.

"How's Numbuh 1?" Wally asked eventually.

"Fine," Kuki replied, staring at the horizon, "he had some pretty nasty third degree burns though and he said it happened in a dream, weird huh?"

"Weird stuff just happens to us," Wally said, "we are magnets of weird, weird magnets."

He thought for a moment then threw his arms.

"Weirgnets!"

Kuki laughed as Wally smiled. Her laugh fell away to a frown as a look of thought covered her face.

"Hey what's up with you?" Wally asked.

"I was just thinking," she said, "when we turn 13, do you really think we'll have no memories of each other, _at all_."

Wally laughed at the irony as Kuki's frowned deepened.

"Well, sorry if it's a stupid question," she said crossly folding her arms and turning away from the Aussie.

"No, no," Wally chuckled, "I'm laughing 'cause I was thinking 'bout the same think a few minutes ago."

"Oh," Kuki giggled, "Sorry."

"Well I hope I don't completely forget you guys," Wally smiled as he looked out to horizon again.

"But imagine if we did," Kuki mumbled, "all those things unsaid."

Wally's eyes widened. Who ever was in charge was seriously screwing with him.

"Well, if we completely forget each other, then surely it doesn't matter, right?" he said trying to sound as calm as possible.

"I think it does," Kuki said glaring down at her lap, "I'm pretty sure we'd regret not saying those things, even if we didn't know what it was we didn't say."

"Like what?" Wall asked looking at her.

"I dunno," Kuki said looking up him, "say there was someone who you liked."

Wally gulped as his heart went on overdrive.

"Like, _like_, or like, _like _like?" he asked.

"Like-like," Kuki blushed.

"Why?" Wally asked raising an eyebrow at her.

"Well, there's this guy," Kuki said biting her lip, "he's cute, funny and a great friend even if he is a little hot-headed, and I'm afraid that when I'm decommissioned I'll forget him and will never have the chance to tell him how I really feel."

"Who is this guy?" Wally demanded standing up, "Is he taller than me?"

"No, silly," Kuki giggled standing up as well, "he is you."

Wally was dumbfounded. His eyes were wide as dinner plates as he stared down at his crush.

"Wait," he said, "so you're saying that you _like_ like… me?"

Kuki laughed.

"You really aren't that smart," she said.

Wally frowned.

"Hey don't take it the wrong way, I think it's cute," Kuki giggled.

"So let me make sure, you're saying you, as in you, Kuki Sanban, _like_ like me, as in me, Wally Beatles?"

Kuki stepped into him and briefly kissed him. Wally blushed ferociously as his eyes widened further.

"Y'know, for a guy that's not the smart," she said, blushing as well, "you think way too much."

She kissed him again, and this time he kissed back. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he wrapped his arms around his waist. They stood like this just as the sun broke free from the horizon behind them. Nigel stepped out of his tent and stretched, he looked out at the dunes to see the two of them, still locked in an embrace. He smiled, and then frowned.

"A little too late," he said softly.

* * *

**Whoa, 4 909 words, these things just keep getting longer. Anyway a little "TA DA" moment as you take in my version of the Wally/Kuki confession. I think Mr. Warburton would probably put a price on my head if he saw what I was doin' to his beloved KND, but no worries, there is a light at the end of a tunnel, its just a very, **_**very**_** long tunnel.**

**Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?**

**I will if you review.**

**Dark**Mike


	17. The Beginning of the End

**

* * *

**

Chapter 17: The Beginning of the End

_A small island, Central Pacific_

"And then what happens?"

A large man sat in a reclining arm chair, a large book on his lap. He was surrounded by seven small children, aged between five and seven.

"And it is on this day," the man said smiling, a distinct Latino accent wrapping his words, "It is said that the sky and earth will open up, and all of man's evils will be sucked into the underworld leaving the earth a pure utopia, with nothing but peace and prosperity reigning over all. No pain, no hunger, no war; no suffering at all."

"Is it really true, uncle?" a six year old girl with long brown hair asked, a huge smile on her face.

"Well, Sarah," the man said, "the prophets have not been wrong so far. But sadly before all this good can happen, a large battle will take place."

"Is that why you are training us, uncle?" A brown haired boy, age seven, asked.

"Yes my children," the man smiled again, "and that is what you're supposed to be doing now, so run along before your teacher finds you."

The children all stood and bowed.

"Thank you, uncle," they all said in unison.

They then scurried out of the large office, the sounds of their laughter and footsteps echoing down the marble passages. The man gave a sigh and a chuckle as he shut the large leatherback book.

"You big softie," a female voice said from behind him.

The man turned to face it, "My first priority are the children, everything I do is for them; are you honestly telling me I cannot spend some time with the ones I am working so hard to save?"

A girl of sixteen walked into the office smiling. She had long red hair and flashing green eyes, her slim figure accentuated by the almost skin tight jump suit she was wearing.

"Julia," the man slimed as he stood to greet her, "so good to see you've returned."

He hugged her briefly.

"Thank you, uncle," Julia said, "I am happy to announce the mission was a success. The artifact is being off loaded as we speak."

"Wonderful," the man almost laughed, "truly wonderful, and how was Pompeii?"

"Warm, as one would expect. We didn't have too much trouble excavating it; security was light and we had a full moon. That was the last one right?" Julia asked raising an eyebrow.

"I spoke with Father Joshua last night," the man said sitting down again, "he says there is one more; hidden deep within the lost city of the Basuga in Southern Africa."

"Well I then have some even better news for you," Julia grinned, "I stopped by the Dennis Manor on my way back."

"Ah yes," the man said, "How is Francis?"

"Fine, uncle," Julia continued, "she met with the three you spoke of."

"And?"

"They have decided to join us, Francis gave then their pendants."

"Whereas this is excellent news," the man said, confused, "I don't see how this helps?"

"They are heading for the Basugian City, uncle," Julia said happily, "they are searching for some kind of treasure, it can only be the final artifact Father Joshua is talking about."

The man stroked his chin.

"Then all we have to do is wait," he said finally giving another huge smile.

"I don't understand," Julia said, "how will they know to bring whatever it is with them."

"If what Father Joshua says is true," the man said, "it will come with them no matter what happens."

"I sometimes worry about how much you ride on their predictions," Julia said crossing her arms.

"The Prophets of Ayteth have not been wrong yet," the man said frowning, his tone toughening, "you should have more faith, Julia."

"Yes," Julia said, panicking slightly and bowing, "I am sorry, uncle, forgive me."

"I understand it is difficult to keep faith in such hard times," he said, "but we are so close now, nothing can stop the rebirth of mankind."

_Lost City dig site_

The site was a bustle of activity as everyone made final arrangements and checks to all the equipment.

"We are descending well beyond 30 meters below ground," Michael called out, "this equipment is our lifeline; treat it as such."

Nigel stood at the top of a small dune supervising; Moosk stood beside him and gave a long whistle.

"This is going to get rough, comrade," he said, "Moosk never like underground."

Nigel turned to smile at his friend. He winced as a jolt of pain shot through his thigh. He stopped and stared at it for a second.

"You will be fine," Moosk said, seemingly reading his mind, "we need strong leader down there and you are best Moosk knows."

"But my injuries…" Nigel began to say.

"Injuries? Bah!" Moosk waved a hand, "Don't tell Moosk a few boo-boos are going to put Nigel Uno out for count?"

"Not a chance," Nigel grinned.

Abby sat in her tent gathering her things, well, she was attempting to.

"Momo!" she laughed.

Everything she put in her rucksack the small primate was removing again and studying. Something at the bottom of the bag caught his eye. The monkey gave a screech and dived in, making Abby laugh again. He emerged with the bracelet she had gotten from the mysterious maid at the Dennis manor. Momo sniffed it, then licked, then bit it before pulling a face of disgust and bounding over to Abby and putting it in her hand. He then returned to his task of unpacking. Abby stared down at the trinket; with all that had happened recently she had almost forgotten about the plan. She again found herself wondering if it was all worth it. Kuki burst in.

"Would you mind getting off your butt and helping?" she demanded.

Before Abby could respond the Asian girl was gone again. She narrowed her eyes; now she remembered why it was worth it. Hoagie waltzed in, obviously in a good mood.

"Ready for the final stretch?" he asked holding his hand out for a high-five.

Abby laughed and threw her comb at his hand. Hoagie caught the comb and put it in her rucksack, only for it to fly back out again.

"What the…" he said as a screeching grey-brown blur of fur erupted from the bag and scurried down his shirt.

"Y'know it's impossible to pack with that little screwball around," Abby said crossing her arms.

Momo's head popped out of Hoagie's neckline and gave her a questioning look. They both laughed as Abby picked up the bracelet and put it on around her wrist. She looked up to see Hoagie smiling at her.

"What?" she asked.

"The sapphires," he said, "they match your…"

Abby blushed.

"…shirt."

The blush evaporated and a flush of rage took its place. She reached for her portable radio. Dean, carrying a crate of food, walked past Abby's tent only to be knocked down by a fleeing Hoagie who was laughing uncontrollably. A radio, followed by a number of other objects, rocketed from the tent flap in all directions. Dean commando crawled to where he had seen Hoagie duck to. He found the boy behind another tent, still giggling. Momo was clutching his shirt with a terrified look on his face.

"What did you say to her, man?" Dean demanded his eyes wide.

"I'm a heartbreaker," Hoagie shrugged, "what can I say?"

Dean punched his arm.

The last of the unneeded supplies were packed onto a J.E.E.P. It was parked along with the others and placed under a camouflaged tarp. The group then gathered at the mouth of the tunnel that led to the underground. Nigel lifted his own rucksack onto his back and looked around at his team. He gave a big smile.

"Everyone ready?"

"We are ready as we will ever be," Moosk smiled, giving Nigel a slap on the back knocking him forward a bit.

Nigel regained his balance and looked out at the group awaiting his command, all smiling and ready to jump when he says jump, but most importantly they were loyal to him as well as the KND. He paused; for a moment he saw his four best friends, age 10, standing on a patch of lush green grass at the base of their tree house with the red tiled roofs and evergreen trees of the Cleveland suburbs stretched out behind them. The sky was blue and the weather was warm; it was another perfect Saturday.

"Uh, boss?" Abby asked waving her hand at his face.

The image dissolved into the group of desert worn pre-teens; each one so far from that perfect Saturday it seemed like a lifetime ago. The sun was setting quickly.

"Oh, right," Nigel said shaking his head, "Let's get…"

He was stopped by a droning thumping coming from somewhere behind them. Everyone turned to see a small speck in the sky, shining in the sun.

"It kinda looks like a…" Wally started to say but was cut off by Hoagie.

"Chopper!"

His cry was followed by the rattling of a Browning mounted machinegun. Sand was kicked up all around them as bullets whizzed about.

"Into the tunnel!" Vuyani called out.

Everyone turned and ran for the safety of the dark opening in the ground. Michelle noticed a feeling of dread pass over her as they approached the entrance. The huge stone arch was covered in carvings of big cats and other predators, all standing with their mouths open baring their teeth, seemingly some kind of warning. The chopper thundered over, giving another burst of lead, it then disappeared behind the opening to the tunnel. The group sped into the tunnel sliding down the small decline that lay just behind the entrance. As they came to a stop they all turned to look up at the window of daylight above them. There was a brief moment of silence. Suddenly the helicopter appeared hovering right in front of the entrance, hanging there as if trying to decide what it was doing to do.

"I could take it out," Hoagie whispered to Nigel, pulling his B.U.Z.O.O.K.A over his shoulder.

"No," Nigel said, placing his hand on the barrel to the weapon and lowering it, "hold on."

"Get back! Get back!" Dean screamed as rock began to fall all around them.

Sectors S and V, Dr. Dennis, Natalie and Moosk all sprung to their feet and took of down the passage. Once out of hams way, they turned back to see the last of the outside light blocked by a falling rock. They were now in complete darkness. Abby glanced over to where she had last seen Nigel. She strained her eyes; was that light coming from behind his glasses? Hoagie's face was suddenly illuminated as he switched his flashlight on.

"Do you want to play a game?" he asked in his best Jigsaw voice.

There were a number of nervous chuckles as more torches switched on.

"I don't get it," Kuki frowned.

Abby held her head and shook it.

"Mus' be the dark playing tricks on me," she said to herself.

Michael swung his beam of light around them to try and get a grip on their surrounding. They were an arched passage, 20 meters wide and 30 meters high. How they had descended so quickly baffled him, but this mystery faded quickly as he directed his flashlight at the ceiling.

"My God," he said softly.

"What?" Natalie asked.

He motioned for her to look up. Her eyes widened as she saw what he saw.

"What are you two gawking at?" Nigel asked walking over to them.

"The Egyptian Journey to the afterlife," Natalie said, "but that makes no sense."

The rest of the group looked up as well to see very obviously Egyptian hieroglyphics depicting a pharaoh being placed in his sarcophagus. Natalie moved the focus of her flashlight down the passage to show a second set of images showing a heart being weighed against an ostrich feather.

"So these are Egyptian ruins?" Abby asked.

"No," Natalie said, turning her flashlight to the one of the walls, "_these _hieroglyphics are definitely Basugain."

"The Basugain priests, towards the end, were obsessed with other cultures," Michael said, "perhaps they came back after the city was submerged and built this tunnel."

"Why would they come back though?" Michelle asked, "Wait; what's the treasure we're after again?"

"Candy," Abby said, "One of the greatest collections in the world."

"D'you really think those priests would risk their lives building this tunnel for candy?" Tasmin asked.

"They didn't seem like the most courageous dudes," Dean commented, "considering they abandoned their people to pay for their mistakes."

"I don't think candy is all that's down here," Kuki said narrowing her eyes, her nose twitching ever so slightly, "there is a strong energy nearby."

"How do you know that?" Wally asked from beside her.

"Oh, uh, woman's intuition?" Kuki panicked, she flashed a nervous smile.

"But I don't…" Michelle began to say but was shut up by Kuki standing on her foot.

"OW!" she yelled.

"Oops," Kuki shrugged, "clumsy me; gotta be the dark."

"Well let's just get moving," Nigel said, he pointed down the passage, "considering we can't go in any other direction."

"How're we gonna get out," Kuki asked him as they began walking.

"We'll figure that out when we have to," Nigel sighed.

Momo suddenly gave a screech of fright and dived down the front of Hoagie's shirt.

"Hey, hey! Calm down!" Hoagie attempted to calm him, "what's gotten into you."

There was a low growl from somewhere up ahead. The group stopped as all flashlights pointed down the passage at the source of the noise. A large black figure bounded away from the light and disappeared into the darkness.

"Okay," Hoagie said calmly, gaining the same look of terror as his simian companion, "I'm going to pretend I didn't see that; I'm just going to breath and wait for the good, good doctor to tell us that is nothing to worry about because it's just some kind of harmless, black tunnel-bunny or something."

He turned to look at Michael who shared his terrified expression.

"Right, doc?"

"We should proceed with caution," Michael said, ignoring Hoagie, "I fear we have entered a place were "normal", "rationale" and "explainable" are terms that do not apply."

"Now see, that is _not _the answer I was looking for," Hoagie groaned.

Abby shook her head and Michelle giggled.

"Glad to see some things about the guy haven't changed," Wally said, nudging Kuki with his elbow.

She laughed and wrapped her arm around his. Wally grinned as the two walked side by side, he was on cloud nine; nothing could go wrong now. Abby, who was walking behind them, noticed this and motioned for Hoagie to look as well.

"Think it finally happened, or is she just flirting again?" he sniggered.

Abby shrugged.

"Whatever," she said, "it don't matter to us, right?"

Hoagie gave a curt nod, "right."

Kuki's smile drifted of her face as she heard what was being said. She sighed and held Wally tighter. Better enjoy it while it lasts.

_Lime Ricky's Soda Bar_

Sonya sat n front of the bar and quietly sipped her soda float. The place was pretty empty, but then again, not many kids came out for soda on a school night. Ricky stood up against his glass cabinet polishing a soda mug. He looked at the girl's sad impression and the state of her drink and grinned.

"If you're just going to peck at it, you shoulda ordered something smaller," he said smiling.

"Sorry Ricky," Sonya sighed, "I'm just feeling kinda down, y'know?"

"I seen plenty 'o sad faces in here," Ricky said warmly, "most folks find it easier when they got someone to listen to 'em."

He walked over and sat down in front of her.

"So what's on ya mind?"

"It's this whole thing with sector V," Sonya said sadly, "Abby and Hoagie under internal investigation, Kuki getting wasted at a club and this whole thing with Nigel being the next Father. I always looked up to Sector V; they were my heroes, but I don't know what to think of them."

Ricky smiled.

"The problem with havin' a hero is that we forget that they're human beings," he said picking up his rag and wiping down the bar top, "they make mistakes, just like me 'n you; what you gotta do is idolize them for all the good they've done, and forget the bad stuff, no one wants to be remembered for the wrong. What do you find so inspiring 'bout Sector V?"

"They're always fighting for what's right, even if that means going against the KND, they never give up," Sonya beamed.

"Then when you picture Sector V, picture those kids, not the stuff you're hearin' on the news," Ricky smiled, "now can I get ya a refill?"

Sonya looked down in surprise as she saw her drink was done. She looked up and smiled at the bartender.

"Sonya?" a voice came from the door.

The two turned to see Lee standing in the door way. His face lit up as he saw it was her.

"Jeeze," he said, "we been looking for you for hours! You just stormed out earlier without tellin' no-one where you were goin', not cool."

"Heya Lee," Ricky called, "me and Sonya here was just havin' a little talk, can I get you anything?"

"Na, we gotta get back," Lee said shaking his head, "Numbuh 85 has a mission for us."

"On my way," Sonya said happily digging into her pocket and pulling out a dollar.

"Thanks for the soda," she said placing it on the bar top, "and the advice."

"My pleasure," Ricky smiled, "anytime."

He watched as she skipped out with Lee. Ricky picked up a mug and returned to his position against the cabinet. He sighed and glanced the photo of him, Hoagie, Abby, Kuki, Wally and Nigel he kept on the back wall.

"Wish I would take my own advice," he muttered, "it'd help."

_Soopreme Commander's Office, Moonbase_

"No, I assure you, sir, this has nothing to do with the KND," Rachel said into her office phone, "I know about as much as you do."

"But if you had to give a statement," the voice came from the other end of the line, "what is your personal take at the situation?"

Rachel rolled her eyes; she despised reporters.

"My personal take is that Father is trying to cause hysteria," she said impatiently, "and I'm sorry to say that he has succeeded."

She put the phone down and buried her face in her hands. She heard the doors to her office slid open.

"Herbie if you ever make me do something like that again," she said without looking up, "I'll shove that pocket protector down your throat."

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we needed to say something," the nerdy boy shrugged, "but that's not what I'm here about…"

"I mean the whole world knows that Father is our mortal enemy," Rachel rambled on, "why for the love of Yipper would they think that WE would have something to do with this."

"Nigel is one of our top operatives," Herbie said, "and he did get some public attention after the ZERO incident, but what we need talk about…"

"And how did they even get my personal number?" she continued still, taking a long sip from her mug of hot chocolate, "This is supposed to be a SECRET Moonbase…"

"RACHEL!" Herbie shouted.

The girl was slightly stunned. She took another sip from the mug still in her hands.

"Get a grip," Herbie said in disbelief of his boss's behavior, "what's up with you today?"

"I'm just a little stressed," Rachel sighed, placing a loose strand of hair behind her ear, "all of this is just a little too much."

"Well I hate to put more on your plate," her assistant said slowly, "but the Council has called a meeting."

"Under whose orders?" Rachel asked angrily standing up.

"I don't know," Herbie shrugged, "I was just told to tell you that there's a meeting now and your presence is required."

"Am I still in charge around here or what? Why on earth does nothing go through me anymore?"

Herbie could only shrug again. Rachel thought for a moment before grabbing her helmet and putting it on.

"Cancel all of my appointments for the rest of the day," she said on her way out, "this is going to take awhile."

The KND Council was founded in 1901 during the Fifth Age of the Kids Next Door by the then Soopreme Commander, Numbuh 7. As the KND expanded it was decided that running it was too much for just one kid. The Council was put in place to help manage smaller projects that the Soopreme Commander was unable handle personally. They work in secret, only high ranked operatives know of its existence. It was re-established at the beginning of the Sixth Age but was lost when Grandfather took over. During his term as Supreme Commander, Numbuh 100 discovered references to the Council in what remained of the Fifth Age archives (the Sixth Age archives were completely destroyed by Grandfather) and brought it back into practice once again. They were responsible for the creation of the Decommissioning Squad (before, operatives due for decommissioning were brought in by what ever sector was available) and more recently, the IIB which was founded due to the rise in the number of traitors.

The blond commander stormed into the meeting room. There were four other kids, all aged 11 and 12 seated around the long table. She took her place at the head of the table and looked expectantly at them.

"Good morning, Numbuh 362 sir," an 11 year old boy to her left said.

"As far as I know," Rachel said sternly, "**I** have to approve one of these meetings, what the hell do you lot think you're doing."

"We are sorry for the obvious misconduct," the boy spoke again, "but we feel that this meeting could not wait."

"Well, Numbuh 554, seeing as you have so much to say, why don't you explain."

"Yes, ma'am, I have been asked to speak on the behalf of the Council; we demand that Sector V's Southern African Operations be ceased immediately."

"You demand?" Rachel laughed, "I am well aware of the council's power in the projects they run, and whereas the IIB is a council run agency, I have taken personal interest in this case and would like to remind the Council that in such a situation they are of advisory status, and may demand nothing."

"With the recent developments in the IIB investigation on Numbuhs 2 and 5 and the whole deal with Numbuh 1, we think its better that they pull back until this clears," Numbuh 554 said.

"What developments?" Rachel said in a confused tone, "I've heard nothing beyond the incident in Rietfontein."

There was a silence as the council members shared glances.

"Am I being kept in the dark?" Rachel asked in disbelief.

The silence continued.

"Is information regarding KND social security being kept from me?" Rachel asked again.

She took the seemingly unending silence as a yes.

"I could have you all decommissioned for this," she said, "why?"

"We're sorry, but we believe your personal and intimate relations with the members of Sector V are interfering with your ability to make rational decisions," 554 stated simply.

Rachel's blood ran cold, her mouth hung open slightly as she looked at him with wide eyes. _Shit._

"You heard me correctly," the boy said with a slight grin, "intimate; we are well aware of your relationship with Numbuh 1."

Rachel just withdrew into her chair.

"During a security sweep of your office," Numbuh 554 explained, "a bug was found tapping into the feed from a security camera. We don't who planted the bug and why, but it was constantly recording; even when you turned the security systems for your office off."

"Oh god," Rachel said sadly, burying her face in her hands.

"Our boys in the tech department were able to retrieve all the video the bug recorded; we saw what happened the evening before Operation SOUTH AFRICA launched."

Rachel remained completely silent, unable to believe what she was hearing. She was busted; plain and simple. After being so careful and feeling guilty every time she looked at him, it was over.

"You said we couldn't demand anything," an Indian girl to her right spoke up, "I think we can. You are in direct violation of rule 445, chapter 6, paragraph IIV of the KND code of conduct, the penalty for which is being stripped of your rank as Soopreme Commander but considering your previous co-operation with the council, we are letting it slide."

"But all decisions regarding this case are now to be made by this council," 554 finished off.

"I understand," Rachel said solemnly, "and what do you want me to do about my, um, _relations_ with Ni…. I mean, Numbuh 1?"

"We ask that you break it off as soon as possible," the Indian girl said frowning, "this explicit behavior is unacceptable from a girl your age; until your time with the KND is up you are still a kid, we expect you to act as such."

"Is that all?" Rachel asked.

"Yes, you may leave," Numbuh 554 said with a salute, "thank you sir."

Rachel stood to leave with an slightly absent look on her face; as if she was still tying to process what she had heard. She had been let off the hook! It was preposterous; she had deliberately violated one of the KND's strictest rules and it was ignored simply because the council liked her. If _she_ had dealt with someone guilty of her crimes she would have them decommissioned immediately. She had her way to the door still in a daze and left, closing it behind her.

Numbuh 554 sighed.

"She's cracking," he said crossing his fingers and placing his hands on the table, "she needs to be psychologically evaluated. Numbuh 29, if you will please contact the psychology department; ask for Numbuh 115."

The Asian girl nodded and pulled out her cell phone.

"While she's busy with that," 554 continued, "we need to discuss what will be done about Sector V and S."

"Well, a South African police report confirms it," the Indian girl, Numbuh 40 said, "Sibenzile Kakugle is dead."

"That will be kept private," 554 said with a stern tone, "we'll do what's necessary to keep those aware of it quiet; luckily she has no other connection to the KND other than her sector."

"As for the fate of the Sector," an African boy, Numbuh 75 said, "the South African Kids Next Door are to be dissolved as soon as the mission is complete; we're getting too many negative reports from that area."

"We have been considering Numbuh 464 for a seat on council for a while now," Numbuh 40 said, "with the recent decommissioning of Numuh 56, I believe Vuyani is more than capable of taking his place."

"I agree," Numbuh 554 said with a nod, "but what of sector V?"

"Numbuhs 2 and 5 are a serious problem," Numbuh 29 said putting away her cell, "Numbuh 86's recon team found their rooms cleared, which can only mean one thing."

"They're probably going to make a break for it the moment they reach the surface again," Numbuh 40 said thoughtfully, "how can we stop that?"

"I think we should send a secret message to Numbuh 464; they are still within radio reach," 554 said, grinning, "He should see to it that Numbuhs 2 and 5 are detained."

"Why not give the message to Numbuh 1?" Numbuh 75 asked.

"With recent events, namely Father's announcement and this deal with Numbuh 364, I'm not sure where his priorities lie," 554 said with a frown.

"Numbuh 1 has always been undoubtedly loyal to the KND," Numbuh 29 said in shock, "I cannot believe you would question his…"

"As First Council-Boy I can question all I like," 554 said angrily.

A brief silence followed as Numbuh 29 retracted.

"Numbuhs 2 and 5 are to be detained and immediately decommissioned upon their return, Numbuh 1 will stand trial for his treason at that time."

He received another look for Numbuh 29.

"We said we'd let Numbuh 364 off," the boy continued, "Numbuh 1 on the other hand is viable for prosecution; we need to enforce the rules to preserve order."

"That's insane," Numbuh 75 exclaimed, "Numbuh 1 is a highly admired veteran operative; you might as well be crucifying Yipper!"

"If order is what you're after, this is no way to go about it," Numbuh 40 said in disbelief, "you'll cause mass hysteria."

"Numbuhs 3 and 4 can be promoted to a Moonbase position to keep them out of trouble," 554 said, ignoring his fellow council member's protests, "Sector V has been a thorn in the KND's side for too long."

"This is outrageous!" Numbuh 29 yelled standing up and slamming her hand on the table, "For god's sake Mathew, you are completely abusing your power as First Chair! What have you got against sector V?"

"Seven years of complete unorthodox methods!" 554 shouted back, "The Kids Next Door is unraveling and the 6th generation are completely to blame!"

"I'm 6th generation!" Numbuh 29 protested.

"Exactly," Numbuh 554 sneered, "now watch what you say or I'll have you held in contempt."

The Asian twelve year old fumed. She lent forward and slapped Numbuh 554 across the face, leaving a huge red mark on his cheek. She stepped back; waiting for a response. Mathew lifted his hand and tenderly touched the still stinging spot.

"You shouldn't have done that," he said chuckling.

He pressed a small button on the intercom unit attached to the table.

"Numbuh 41 and 41, if you'll step in here please."

The door swung open and the twin guards walked in.

"Arrest her," Numbuh 554 said simply pointing to the angered girl across from him.

"On what grounds?" Numbuh 29 asked in greater disbelief.

"You assaulted me and continue to argue against the orders of a superior officer," the boy smirked sitting down, "These can only be the actions of an undercover rogue."

The 41 brothers shrugged and grabbed Numbuh 29 by her arms.

"Ashley Kasumi, Third Chair of the KND council," one of them said handcuffing her, "you are under arrest for acts of tratorisum."

"Guys!" Ashley called to Numbuh 40 and 75 as she was dragged out, "you can't let him get away with this! You've got to help me!"

The remaining council members could only lower their heads and sink into their seats; worrying that if they stick up for their colleague they may suffer the same fate. Ashley stopped struggling as she saw her friends expressions she hung her own head as a tear ran down her face. The door shut and Numbuh 554 turned back to the others.

"Right," he said, "I assume there are no more objections."

He was answered by silence.

"Good, Numbuh 40; see to it that Numbuh 464 is contacted."

He then turned to the African glaring holes through him. He smiled at the boy's expression.

"Now, now, Numbuh 75; no hard feelings? I'd like you to start sorting candidates for Numbuh 29's replacement."

As the two of them left Mathew smiled; it was all coming together. Ashley had asked if he had something against Sector V but how they were in fact his favorite people. If it wasn't for them coming apart at the seams, he would never be this close to his ultimate goal. He again reached forward and pressed the small red button.

"Yes sir?" a female voice came from the small box.

"Get me the UN head office on line 1," the blooming tyrant grinned.

* * *

**I swear this is going somewhere. I took the time to go back and read the story through again and found it somewhat tedious, but we are heading for the climax so hold on a bit longer. This is one of the last over-dramatic plot twists, I swear.**

**review **_adjective_ (ree-vew) to click the attractive button below and tell a worried author how his fic is going.

**Dark**Mike


	18. Deciding

**Chapter 18: Deciding**

_50m below sea level, Kalahari Desert, Southern Africa_

Hoagie whistled nervously to himself as the group continued blindly into the dark of the underground passage. He wasn't that good, he was off tune and not quite getting the song right, but no-one complained; it broke the uneasy atmosphere of being underground, alone and in the dark. The passage they were passing through had been divided onto numerous chambers, each on larger and more decorated than the last. The walls were covered in various texts and hieroglyphs spanning from floor to ceiling, Michael paused every now and then to study them, the look of confusion on his face increasing in severity each time he was finished. No-one complained; it gave them an excuse to take a break.

"Every chamber tells the story of the Basugian downfall," he said as he moved away from the wall for the sixth time, "but each chamber tells the story slightly differently; starting with the story you were told by Moonbase, and the one before this the story I've always known."

"And now?" Abby asked.

"This script speaks of 'white-skinned men from the sea'."

"Sounds like colonists," Natalie said in an unimpressed tone, "looks like you were wrong, Michael."

"No, not colonists," Michael continued, an excited spark in his eye, "These white men were sold to the Basuga as slaves, brought here by what seems like Zimbabweans. Our good friends the Basugian priests, in their quest for understanding Armageddon, picked the brains of these strange men to find out about their own culture. From the little I can gather from these walls, it seems that the white men came from a highly successful and rich civilization on an island. At the height of their success, their island sunk beneath the sea; the wrath of the gods it seemed. Sound familiar?"

"Isn't that Atlantis?" Tasmin said looking thoughtful.

A wide smile spread across Michael's face, "Exactly, but what else?"

"Well," Hoagie said, "there are quiet a few similarities between Atlantis and Basuga; both were successful civilizations who, while at the top of the world, fell, _hard_."

Michael beamed like a proud teacher.

"The time difference doesn't work out," Natalie said sighed, "Plato spoke of Atlantis being around in about 9600 BC, while the Basuga broke off about 2000 years ago."

"I admit that part of the story doesn't quite fit," Michael frowned, "but it is rather interesting, is it not?"

The group picked themselves up and started moving again. Nigel was starting to struggle; he hadn't walked so far since the injury to his leg. Kuki noticed this and looked questioningly at Wally, silently asking his permission. Wally smiled and gave a nod. Kuki gave his hand a squeeze as she let go of it. She moved up behind Nigel, who was now limping rather badly, and slipped under his right arm, resting it on her shoulder. Nigel was surprised but relived to receive some support.

"Thanks," he said softly to her.

"Like I said," Kuki smiled up at him, "in the end, you'll always have me."

Moosk, who was leading the pack, raised his right hand suddenly causing the group to stop. He stood in silence for a moment, not turning around and breathing deeply.

"Who else is smelling that?" he said finally, causing all of the kids behind him to sniff the air.

"Hoagie was the only one who registered, "Smells like explosives…"

"That is what Moosk thought," the Russian said in a hushed tone, "we should move careful."

Everyone produced a weapon and stood ready. Nigel scanned the crowd and turning to Moosk, nodded. They slowly began to precede, the oversized man taking point and the band of twelve year olds following in single file behind him. They entered the seventh chamber the find themselves staring at a huge archway. It was decorated just as the walls of the previous chambers were but this time the walls were bare. There were large chunks of stone lying scattered everywhere and scorch marks on either side of the arch. Moosk lowered his weapon.

"Now we know where smell come from," he said.

"That was one helleva blast," Dean said shaking his head, "surprised it didn't bring the whole damn place down."

"This is it!" Michael yelled in excitement looking up at the plaque at the top of the arch, three simple characters were etched into the stone, "The Lost City of Africa."

They all slowly moved into the cavern behind the arch, weapons at the ready.

"Oh my god…" Natalie said in awe, her Medusa pistol lowering.

The scene that opened before them could only be described as incredible. A skyline of tall multistory buildings surrounding a huge central spherical palace spanned out beneath a dome of sand. The buildings all seemed to be made of limestone brick decorated with a crude form of silver. The city was lit from within the palace by an ominous blue light.

"The gents back at the academy would give their right arm to be where we are standing now," Michael buzzed, "we are a blessed few."

"This sand is loose," Hoagie said in disbelief, prodding at the surrounding walls, "it's like its being held in place by some magnetic force or something."

As Natalie and Michael moved in to inspect Hoagie's discovery, Kuki started to walk further into the city. She stopped suddenly as she felt something wet seep into her sock.

"Aw crud," she cursed, "of all the rotten…"

Kuki froze as she looked down; a dark puddle covered the majority of the street in front of her. The light was bad, but she could still see exactly what she was standing in. Blood. She stumbled back a few steps and fell over, her left hand landing in the sticky liquid. She raised it to her face to see it black in the blue light. Kuki did the only thing she could bring herself to do; she screamed.

_Moonbase Detention Bloc_

There was a low hiss as the elevator reached the third story of the high security bloc. The doors slid open and Rachel stepped out into the dim light. Three hovering drones scanned her from to bottom before signaling she was clear. Rachel walked forward down a long corridor. She was stopped at the end by two heavily armed guards.

"Good evening sir," the one said while the other patted her down, "sorry for the search; regulation, you understand."

"No it's quite alright gentlemen," Rachel smiled at them, "I passed and signed for all this new security, I thinks it's only fair that I deal with it from time to time."

The boy who was searching her stood up awkwardly. He rubbed the back of his head blushing slightly.

"Your, uh, all clear, sir, I mean ma'am, I mean sir," he stammered.

Rachel giggled a little.

"Thank you soldier," she said smiling again.

"You're in to see Numbuh 29, I presume," the other more confident guard said handing her a clipboard, "sign here please."

"Yep," Rachel said scribbling her initials on the small piece of paper, "we go way back."

"I-if it means anyting, um, sir," the other guard said staring at his shoes, "I think she's innocent."

"Thank you, it does," the blond commander said, "but that's no way to stand, at attention soldier!"

The two 10 year olds snapped into a ridged position. Rachel giggled again.

"At ease guys," she said, "I'm just messin' with ya."

"Um, of course, sir," the first guard smiled slightly, "Cell 25."

The two relaxed as she walked on. The first guard glanced at his goofy partner and chuckled, "Real smooth Romeo."

"What?" the other asked, "I believe she's innocent, really!"

The first just laughed again.

"Older chicks man, I think you just found your calling."

His friend blushed.

"Yeah, I saw how much you enjoyed searching her."

Rachel smiled to herself as she carried on._ Boys_. The corridor started to widen as the cells appeared on either side of her. The sound of heavy metal and crying wavered through the steel walls. Rachel shivered; teenagedom was a sad and scary fact. The cells slowly became darker and more dingy as she proceeded, before her target location finally came into view; the darkest, dingiest of them all. It seemed that those who made an enemy of Numbuh 554 paid the price. Pulling out her identity card, she swiped it across the small scanner to the right of the cell door. A small green light flashed above the door.

"_Prisoner to please step away from the door,"_ a digital voice commanded from a speaker somewhere, _"Door will open once prisoner has complied."_

Rachel heard movement from inside, slow and sluggish.

"_Visitors are asked to be wary of prisoners at all times; these kids were locked in here for a reason. Thank you and enjoy your visit."_

Several loud clanking noises followed before the door slid slowly open. Rachel gazed into the cell and her face dropped; it was nothing more than a metal box with a small bunk and a toilet in it. Ashley was sitting on the bunk in a ball, her back to the door.

"If this is the press," she said in a small, tired voice, "I've said all I have to say."

Rachel stepped inside and the door hissed closed behind her. She walked over the bunk and sat down beside the small framed girl.

"I had a feeling you'd come," Ashley all but murmured.

The two embraced. Rachel caught her first look at Ashley since the arrest as they broke apart; her eyes were red and puffy, her hair hanging loosely all over her face, her cheeks damp with tears. Rachel was shocked; Ashley had always been a strong, confident person. She had been president of Rachel's fourth grade class at St. Augustine's Academy for Girls and was the one who tagged Rachel in the Tag game after Chad Dixon's escape. She spent the last ten minutes of the game convincing Rachel that she was the one for the job. It was no surprise to anyone when she was chosen to be a chairperson on the KND council.

"He's not gonna stop?" Ashley said staring at her lap, "not until he runs the show completely."

"He wants to be Soopreme Commander?" Rachel asked.

"Pretty much; he can't stand being out of the lime light."

Rachel thought for a moment.

"I was scheduled for a Phsyc-test," she said, "his doing?"

"Yup, he's probably going to have the results rigged to have your ability as leader of the KND questioned," Ashley stated sadly.

"What?!" Rachel exclaimed.

"And if that doesn't work he'll bring out the story with you and Nigel Uno. Mathew has been planning this for months, there's no stopping it now."

"So, what? He'll have me decommissioned?"

"No, he still needs you; you are the 'people's commander', he needs a public face until he can launch his little putsch. Besides, the council doesn't know everything; you know things he needs."

"Like what?"

"Well, the council is aware of the TND's existence, but as for fine details, we're clueless. When he becomes Soopreme Commander, it won't be through proper channels, so he won't have access to that information."

"Oh," Rachel said.

She fell silent again, lowering her head. After a minute or so, it slowly lifted again.

"I have an idea," she said.

"What?" Ashley asked raising an eyebrow.

"Hold on we need one more person down here," Rachel smiled reaching for her radio.

She lifted it to her face and flicked a switch on the side.

"Numbuh 86? Could you make your way to the detention bloc please? Yes, now, that's an order."

She attached the radio to her belt and smiled at Ashley, a strange, mischievous look in her eye.

"I've never seen you like this Rach," Ashley said, a grin growing on her face, "but I like it."

_Lost City_

Wayden smiled to himself as he watched his opposition freaking out over the blood. A cigarette once again hung limply from his mouth, a trial of smoke rising from its glowing tip. He turned away from the small window of the six storey building he and his associate had taken residence in. He fell onto the bunk he had set up and finished his cigarette, flicking the butt out the window.

"Zis is all priceless!" Henrietta said gleefully as she entered the room, her arms filled with various clay cups, bowls and other crockery, "We're gonna be rich."

Wayden chuckled, "Glad to hear it."

Henrietta smiled again and placed them carefully on her own bunk.

"Vell I feel disgusting," she said brushing dust from her jacket, "I think I'll change."

"I think that's a wonderful idea," Wayden smirked, "do you need some help?"

The girl halved her eyes, "No, I think I vill be alright, can I trust you not to look?"

"I'm not making any promises," Wayden said turning around.

Henrietta began to undress.

"You know," she said, "I'm impressed at how quickly you switched sides, considering all that Father has done for you."

"If Father himself was in this situation, don't you think he be doing exactly what I'm doing now?" Wayden said trying his best not to try and peek, "3 million Euros is one hell of an incentive."

"I suppose," Wayden could hear the approval in her voice.

"I'm surprised at how simply you took those other men out," he said to go with the conversation trend, "You're pretty cold-blooded."

"To my enemies," the blond smiled, "but to my friends, I'm told I'm rather hot."

"I'll say," Wayden muttered, drawing all the self control he could muster.

He suddenly felt his shirt being lifted over his head.

"You seem so tense," Henrietta's voice was right in his ear as she began to massage his shoulders.

He saw a few stands of golden hair fall around his neck and he could feel her breath on his upper back. Her hands were gracing his shoulders with their touch. Wayden couldn't take it any longer, he tried to spin around but was held in place buy Henrietta's strong grasp.

"Na-uh-uh," she giggled.

She wrapped her arms her arms around his chest and brought her torso up against his back. All Wayden felt was skin.

"There'll be plenty of time for that once we get out of this hole in the ground," she whispered in his ear.

Wayden sighed and smiled. _Foreign girls_.

_

* * *

_

Vuyani sat with his legs crossed beside the fire, its bright orange light overpowering the blue glow. Reaching into his pocket he produced a small block of wood with several pieces of metal stretched over a small wooden rod. He started to pluck away at the instrument, creating a soft, African melody. Abby and Michelle also sat down with him, followed by Tasmin and Moosk. Dean, Hoagie and Wally paused from their chore of setting up tents, to listen for a moment. Even Momo stopped digging through someone's belongings and turned to face the source of the seemingly enchanting sound. Vuyani played for a few more minutes, his eyes closed and his fingers dancing. He finished and let out a sigh, receiving applause. He chuckled and stood to give a small bow. Tasmin and Abby laughed, Hoagie smiled and shook his head while returning to his chores with the other guys. The fun was cut abruptly by Nigel's bellowing voice.

"What do you mean I can't know?! I'm the highest ranking operative here!"

There were further grumblings before Nigel erupted from his tent, holding a video phone in his hand. He marched towards Vuyani and thrust it at him.

"Code Red Transmission for you!" he fumed.

Vuyani took the phone from him and cried out; the metal surface was glowing it was so hot. Nigel stormed off, muttering to himself. Kuki, who had emerged from her own tent to see what the ruckus was about, darted after him. The rest of the group dispersed, returning to their duties, leaving Vuyani alone. He raised the video phone to eye level and pressed the small green button on its face. Numbuh 40 appeared, a deeply worried expression etched across her face.

"Madam Council-Girl," he said in a surprised tone, "how hay I help you ma'am?"

"Good evening, Numbuh 464," she said, Vuyani raised an eyebrow; it was evening? "We need to talk in private."

"Of course," the African boy's response was still in confusion.

He walked out into the darkness, distancing himself with the camp. He then turned back to Numbuh 40.

"We have a slight situation here," she said, "to put it simply, First Council-boy, Numbuh 554, has ordered Numbuh 29 to immediate decommissioning, Numbuh 1 is going to stand trail for treason and evidence incriminating Numbuh 364 has been found, resulting in her suspension until the end of this mission."

Vuyani just blinked at the small screen, trying desperately to take it all in.

"I'm sorry for dumping this on you," Numbuh 40 continued, "but we need someone to keep an eye on Mr. Uno until he returns, to make _sure_ he returns. With all of this recent turmoil, we feel you are the only one in the expedition party we can trust."

"I understand," Vuyani's face was now firm as his objectives became clear, "I will do as best as I can."

"Thank you, Numbuh 464," the Indian girl smiled at him, "but remember; no-one is to know of _any_ of this. Only take action against Numbuh 1 as a last resort."

Vuyani gave a curt nod and the screen went black, _End Transmission_ flickering across the screen. He sighed; it seems no-one could be trusted, no-one at all.

* * *

Hoagie lay lazily on the floor of Abby and Michelle's tent. He was playing a game with Momo, teasing the small primate with his watch; holding it just out of his reach to make him jump and leap around. Abby was sitting on her bunk, 'reading through a file' she claimed, but Hoagie could see she was looking right through the page. Michelle sat silently on her own bunk fiddling with a necklace around her neck. Momo started to get slightly annoyed and started shrieking as his grasping became more frantic. Hoagie chuckled and gave in giving the monkey his watch. Momo became engrossed in the device, instantly fiddling with the small dials on either side of its face. Hoagie glanced up at Michelle to see her necklace was in fact a crucifix.

"Never pegged you for the holy type," he said, breaking the silence rather suddenly.

"Oh, ya," Michelle said, looking almost startled, "I'm a Catholic actually."

"No kidding?"

"Ya, my grandma, she kinda forced me into it, I'm not complaining though."

"So I suppose your grandmother was a devote Christian herself?" Abby asked.

"Actually she was pagan, prayed to gods I'd never heard of. She told me that paganism wasn't for me though, that Catholicism was more suited to a young lady such as myself."

Hoagie laughed, "Weird."

"You're telling me," Michelle smiled, "my Gran was a pretty weird person, but how about you guys? Faith I mean."

"Christian," Abby said, "been going to the Full Gospel Church on Brooch Avenue since I was a baby."

Hoagie grumbled something.

"What's up with you," Michelle said raising an eyebrow and grinning.

"Ignore him," Abby rolled her eyes, "Mr. stone-solid-facts over there is religious skeptic."

"Don't forget cynic," Hoagie chimed in.

"Hey, I get it," Michelle said grinning, "There are some things not even religion can write off."

"Like?"

"Well, take this place for instance, I don't either religion or science can explain here."

"I have a third logical option you should take into consideration," Hoagie said with a serious face, "Magic."

Michelle burst out laughing only to notice no-one else was.

"You call that logical?" she asked in disbelief.

"Well you seem to be the only one who thinks is isn't."

"Like fairies and wizards and spells and stuff? J. K. Rowling shit?" Michelle was flabbergasted that her companions were taking this all so seriously.

"Not quite," Abby said thoughtfully, "but we've seen our fair share."

"You've _seen_ magic?"

"A couple of times, how else would you explain someone of my genius and brilliance turning into a knuckle dragging caveman?" Hoagie added.

"I heard rumors about that…" Michelle looked thoughtful for a moment and then shook her head, "Its crazy!"

"Hey," Hoagie chuckled defensively, "seeing _is_ believing."

"I'll just have to see this wonderful world of magic for myself then," Michelle said folding her arms.

"Well Abby thinks you ain't gonna have to wait long," Abby said looking out at the large building and its blue glow, "There's something about this place that just screams supernatural."

Hoagie gulped, thinking of the blood bath they had come across, "I hope that's the only screaming happening."

* * *

Kuki walked quietly over to where Nigel was sitting cross-legged on the floor. His face was a mixture of emotions and he seemed to be concentrating very hard on something. She sat down beside him and sighed. He jumped a little, only noticing her presence then.

"How's this gonna end?" she asked simply.

Nigel looked a little confused, "Excuse me?"

"How is this all gonna end?" Kuki repeated herself, "Its never going to be the same again, that last mission in Indonesia was our final victory."

"We're going to do this," Nigel said calmly, "we're so close now."

"At what cost?" Kuki exclaimed, "Hoagie and Abby are going to jail!"

"That was their decision," Nigel continued in his calm tone.

Kuki stared at him expectantly, "That's it?"

"Sorry?"

"That's all you're going to say? Can you honestly live with that? I can't!"

"I won't have to."

Nigel was silent now as he stared out into the darkness. Kuki looked at her lap for a moment before raising her head slowly, a look of severe realization on her face.

"You're not going back are you?"

Nigel remained silent. After a moment, Kuki laughed, causing him to look at her with a raised eyebrow.

"This is incredible!" she said throwing her arms up, "Sector V; the first veteran sector since Sector Z, a bunch of lousy traitors!"

"The bigger you are, the harder you fall," Nigel said and turned back to staring out into the city.

Kuki was somber now, the gravity of the situation engulfing her. She felt angry, sick, disappointed and sad; emotions she had spent the majority of her life denying.

"I got a call from Rachel a few minutes ago," Nigel said his voice tightening, "there's trouble in upper management."

"You mean…"

He nodded, "Numbuh 554 has started a rampage and he's not letting anyone stand in his way. Numbuh 29 was scheduled for decommissioning this morning."

"What?" Kuki was shocked.

"It's not just us Kooks," Nigel said, turning to look at her, his eyes tired, "It's everyone."

Kuki felt a tear run down her cheek.

"So what are we going to do?" she asked.

"I don't think Abby and Hoagie will get caught," Nigel said with a half smile, "they're too good, they're gonna run, and you and Wally should do the same."

The raven haired girl looked as if she was about to say something, but he cut her off, "You and Wally share something special, you need to be together, for all of us."

"I can't run from you guys, Nigel," Kuki said sternly, "I can't just leave you behind."

"You have no choice; if you go back to the KND, the two of you will just be pulled into its ugly unraveling which will just end in your messy decommissioning."

Kuki stared at him again, "What about you?"

To answer her, Nigel began to focus intently on his hand. Kuki watched in shock as it began to glow, like a large light was behind it. Then, all of a sudden, his hand caught fire. Kuki jumped back.

"I accept my destiny," the brit said playing with the fire in his hand a bit, "I join Delightful Industries as the new Father."

Kuki looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I'm coming with you," she said suddenly.

"No, Kooks…"

"Don't try to talk me out of it," she stopped his protest, "you need me."

Nigel couldn't help but smile weakly at her. She smiled back and they embraced, holding each other for a long period of time.

"No matter _what_," Kuki said again, "You'll always have me, boss."

Nigel sighed sadly. _But will you always have me?_

From somewhere in the shadows, Wally watched and listened; his anger and confusion growing by the second. He clutched the pistol attached to his belt, removing it from its holster. _Its time to get some answers._

**

* * *

**

That was it. The last build up chapter, next comes the beginning of the end. Stay tuned folks.

**Dark**Mike

**Oh, right, and review.**


	19. The Three Chambers

**Chapter 19: The Three Chambers**

_Moonbase, Decom Bloc_

"…I'm sorry, I love you."

Rachel felt a tear run down her cheek. Quickly wiping it up, she pressed the small button on the side of the holo-recorder to end the recording. Fanny entered the room with a solemn face.

"They're ready for you, sir," she said lowering her head.

Rachel walked over to her and lifted up her chin, giving her a smile. They hugged and Rachel placed the small sphere in Fanny's hand.

"Is this…" the redhead began to say.

Rachel nodded, "I'll see you on the other side."

Fanny nodded and saluted. Taking a deep breath, Rachel placed her helmet on her head and fastened her robe. With a final grin, she walked into the decommissioning chamber. A small crowd was gather around the rooms central feature; the large Decom Machine. Ashley sat in one of the chairs, her head hanging limply. She raised for a second as she heard Rachel approach, but let it drop again. Cameras flashed and people whispered as Rachel stood in front of her.

"Can we get these people out of here?" Rachel said motioning towards the crowd, "Let's let the poor girl retain some of her dignity."

"She's a traitor," one of the photographers muttered, "She doesn't deserve dignity."

Rachel bit her lip, "That wasn't a suggestion, it was an order."

The group slowly made its way to the door taking a few pictures on their way out. The doors hissed shut and only Rachel, Ashley and Fanny remained. The reporters huddled around the small screen outside the decom chamber where video feed from inside was being shown. From in his own office Numbuh 554 sat and watched gleefully.

"Numbuh 29," Rachel began, "you have been charged and found guilty on acts of traitorism, your sentence is decommissioning. For the sake of the archives, how do you at this stage plea?"

"Still not guilty, you pompous bitch," Ashley spat, "lets just get this over with."

The group of reporters gasped and 554 chuckled.

"Numbuh 29 of the Kids Next Door, I find you guilty of tratorism and order your sentence to be carried out active immediately."

Rachel nodded to Fanny and the machine began to power up. The video feed began to get fuzzy and then all together blacked out. The crowd outside groaned, this always happened though. The large amount of energy used in the decommissioning process messed with all forms of signal in the direct area. A large zapping sound and a girl's scream was heard though the door, and a few moments later the doors hissed open. Rachel and Fanny led a very dazed Ashley from the chamber into a waiting S.C.A.M.P.E.R. The crowd began to cheer as the doors to the craft slid shut. Numbuh 554 switched off his TV, content with the afternoon's proceedings. Inside the S.C.A.M.P.E.R, Rachel stumbled over to a bunk and sat down holding her head.

"Well that was weird," she said, "where did you say we were?"

Ashley and Fanny exchanged glances.

"Our apologies, Miss Mackenzie," Fanny said, "a security breach has occurred within your residence and as part of standard evacuation procedure, you are being transported to the Japanese safe house."

"We're in Asia?" Rachel said looking confused.

"Yes miss."

"Where's my Father? Where's Harvey?" she asked still holding her head.

"Your brother is at school in the States, and your Father is on a business trip," Ashley said putting on a confused face, "don't you remember?"

"My head hurts," Rachel whined, "I can't remember much; everything's fuzzy."

"You must have just knocked your head," Ashley said with a smile, "why don't you lie down, we'll wake you on arrival."

"I think I will," Rachel smiled back lying down, "Y'know, you remind me of this girl I knew in forth grade…"

And with that she was asleep. Ashley slumped heavily next to Fanny at the controls. They looked at each other for a moment, but said nothing, each reading the look of sadness and loss on the others face. They looked out at the earthrise as the lunar landscape disappeared out from under the craft, unsure of what they'd gotten themselves into.

_Father's Southern African Lair, CEO office_

Father had his eyes shut as he sat in his plush office chair. He could feel it, even at this distance; a large amount of energy slowly raising and falling. But what he was most excited about was the spike of energy he had felt earlier; it had left him shocked but impressed. No Uno had ever unlocked Flamabbatis so quickly. He smiled and folded his arms as he felt the energy raising again, increasing in speed. He reached for his intercom, pressing the small red button on its face.

"Yes, sir?" his secretary's voice was shaky.

"Send for Harrison," Father said, his eyes still closed, "And have Kelling organize me a helicopter."

"I can do the first part sir, but not the second."

"Why?" Father opened an eye, "Where's Kelling?"

"He's dead."

"Oh right, he failed me," Father said stroking his chin, "have Johnson do it then."

"Yes sir."

_Lost City_

Wally walked quickly towards the campsite, his grip on the Frank and Koch Pistol in his right hand tightening with every step. Hoagie was stepping out of Michelle and Abby's tent just as Wally approached. He stretched before noticing the Aussie.

"Hey man," he said smiling, "Where's the fire?"

Wally narrowed his eyes and began to move his arm to reveal the weapon, but was stopped by Michael's sudden appearance from behind a tent.

"We've found it!" he called out, "We've found the entrance!"

Wally quickly re-holstered his gun, while Hoagie stood blinking at him suspiciously. The rest of the group began emerging from tents as Natalie and Moosk walked up behind the buzzing archeologist. Nigel and Kuki appeared from out of the darkness.

"Where have you two been?" Wally asked bitterly.

Nigel and Kuki exchanged worried glances.

"We were circling the central temple and…"

"Wait, it's a temple?" Michelle said scratching her head.

"Did I forget to mention that?" Michael said doing a double take, he tapped his chin for a moment, "Anyway, we were circling the base of the temple and we came across an entrance; its small, but the markings around it confirm."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Vuyani asked.

Half an hour later they were walking through the city streets.

"I gotta say," Abby said looking up as they passed a towering twelve story structure, "these buildings are pretty impressive."

"Can you believe these were made 2000 years ago?!" Michael beamed, "I find it incredible that such an ancient civilization was able to master such advanced engineering, especially considering that…"

Abby zoned out as Michael rambled on. _A simple "Yup, pretty neat huh?" would have been fine._

"I warned you not to get him started," Natalie said with an unimpressed tone.

Abby chuckled; the British girl gave a rare smile.

"What about you and that Gilligan boy," she asked, taking her by surprise.

Abby blushed, "What do you mean…"

"Know what I can't stand? When people do something obviously incriminating, like blushing, but still continue to deny it, like I'm blind or something."

Abby laughed a little and looked back to find Natalie staring at her, "So?"

"I dunno," she said honestly, "It's weird, he flirts, but he always has… with every girl me meets."

"Ever with you?"

"Not until recently, I guess he's always just seen me as a friend."

"And what about you?" Natalie kept the questions coming.

"I've always thought of him the same way," Abby said rubbing her arm.

"And now?"

"I really don't know, we've been spending a lot of time together with, um, our latest, err, missions, and I guess I'm maybe warming up to him…"

Natalie nodded, understanding fully. They walked in silence for a bit.

"How is the whole Kids Next Door thing?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Great," Abby said instinctively.

"Then why would you be running?"

Abby looked out ahead of them.

"I don't know what…"

"Francis is a good friend of mine," Natalie said, her facial expression unreadable.

Abby opened her mouth to say something but stopped, giving a small smile.

"It's just one big catch 22 really," she said eventually, "seven years of unbelievable experiences and non-stop fun. You make the best friends any kid could ask for, but then…"

"You start growing up?" Natalie offered.

"And you're expected just to throw that all away."

Natalie remained silent. Abby lowered her head.

"You probably think I'm a worm, right?"

"If you had to ask Michael, he'd probably go on about honor," Natalie said tucking a strand of blond hair behind her ear, "I'm not that sentimental, my entire life I've strived for knowledge, just the thought of having to give my life's work shatters me. No-one has the right to take that away from you."

"You're not exactly the person I'd expect to get and inspirational speech from," Abby said rubbing the back of her head, "but thanks."

"It wasn't _that_ inspirational," Natalie said keeping a straight face.

Abby stared at her with folded arms until she finally broke and allowed another smile. Abby laughed as they kept walking.

"So what do you expect to find in there," Abby said stabbing a thumb at the temple.

"I don't know, quite frankly, just finding this place would have been plenty for me."

Nigel called everyone to a halt as they reached the large wall surrounding the temple. A small eight foot by three foot door was cut into it, surrounded by hieroglyphics. Michael began studying them, running his fingers along the grooves. Everyone waited as he read.

"It's a warning," he said finally.

"How original," Natalie rolled her eyes, "So what doom lies behind the door this time?"

Michael cleared his throat and started reading out loud, "_Entrance to our hallowed ground, where treasure bountiful may be found, requires more than average will suffice; it requires sacrifice. Beyond this door two chambers than another, all tests for you and any other and only those strong of soul, mind and will, shall pass our test, shall meet the bill. For beyond the treasure that you obviously seek, is a greater find, a more valuable keep; this item of great power of which we prized, the very item which brought about our demise. So we shall deny access to no hater or sinner, and our chambers shall decide the winner; cursed is each so only the best will make it through, so before you enter make sure that's you."_

"Well there is warning if Moosk had ever heard one."

"How can they 'deny access' to 'haters' and 'sinners'?" Kuki asked, "Everyone does both."

"I believe it is simply a method to make sure the best of the lot make it through," Vuyani said stroking his chin, "for example; if we were all murderers, and all of you had killed five people but I had only killed one, I'd make it through."

"The only question is how many of us will this curse or whatever choose to pick off," Hoagie said.

Silence ensued as everyone considered their options.

"I personally think its bull," Michelle said shrugging, "but we'll never find out unless we go for it."

"We have a mission to complete," Nigel stated firmly, "so we'll just have to take the risk."

"Numbuh 5 doesn't like it," Abby said with a sigh, "but just think of all that candy!"

"What do you think Docto…" Dean began to say but stopped as everyone noticed the door open and Natalie disappearing into it. In a scrambled they all followed, entering the dark passage. Momo cringed on Hoagie's shoulder as they passed through the door, mumbling a series of frightened "eek"s in his ear.

"Easy buddy," Hoagie said giving his primate sidekick a pacifying pat on the head.

They walked for a few minutes; their only light the blue glow coming from slits in the wall, before reaching a small room. Another arch lay before them, the runes along its frame glowing the same blue as they'd seen everywhere else.

"_Test 1: the test of soul. May the stains of sin be seen by all, the most tarnished soul will here fall,_" Michael read.

Everyone glanced at one another, before slowly proceeding in silence. Michelle had been walking close to Dean, unsure as to why he was being so distant from her. As they passed under the arch and into the larger chamber beyond it she noticed him beginning to sweat at bit, which was strange considering her breath was condensing in front of her face.

Dean wasn't feeling too well, the minute he walked into the room his heart had started beating faster, and now he was sweating. Feeling very nervous, he quickened his pace pushing past Abby and Hoagie. He was sure Hoagie had said something, but it just sounded like a distant garble. The exit was ahead of him and he felt shaky, starting to jog.

Dean looked terrible as he brushed past Nigel, his face was drenched in sweat and his walking was clumsy.

"Numbuh 462, slow down!" he called after him, but got no response, instead the brown haired boy started jogging.

"What's up with him?" Nigel called back to the group.

"He's unresponsive," Hoagie called back, "completely ignored the fact that he almost ran me and Abs over."

"Numbuh 5," Nigel corrected him, picking up his own pace in an attempt to catch up with the delirious boy.

The door was only a few feet away now and Dean was almost running, he thought he could hear the others calling to him but all he cared about was getting out of the chamber. Then he saw him; a young African boy, probably no more than 10 years of age, stepping into the exit archway. Dean froze and skidded to a halt. _It can't be_, his thoughts were frantic as he desperately tried to pull himself together. His heart felt like it would rip out his chest now, banging against his rib cage as he stared at the boy in front of him.

"Themba?!" he called out in confusion, "wha… how?"

The boy said nothing, his facial expression sad. He took a step towards Dean, causing him to stumble back.

"He's hallucinating," Michelle said her voice shaky.

The group had now stopped and was staring at Dean who seemed like he could barley stand.

"Who's Themba?" Abby asked.

"Dean's best friend," Vuyani said with a dark tone, "he died 3 years ago."

"How?" Michael asked.

Dean stumbled back again as Themba took another step. It was all happening like a bad dream, a bad dream he had often. Themba started crying, tears streaming down his face. Dean felt someone tugging at his arm. He turned to see Michelle, her mouth was forming words he was sure he could register but all he heard was her screaming _"Don't do it Dean."_He turned to face the African boy again only to see him standing three feet away. Dean jumped back, knocking Michelle over. Themba's eyes were teary and pleading, cutting directly into Dean's. Dean now took a step forward and Themba stepped back.

"I am so sorry," he said in an exhausted voice, starting to cry himself.

Michelle sat where she was unable to move; Dean seemed to be convinced he was talking to Themba Mikalewe, but there was nobody in front of him. A tear ran down the bridge of her nose and out onto her cheek.

"It was an accident," she lied to herself.

"How did Themba die?" Michael demanded again.

Themba seemed unmoved by Dean's outburst; he continued to stare at him with big, pleading eyes. Dean looked up at him and the two stared at each other for what felt like forever. Suddenly his eyes widened, his pupils becoming very small. Dean stepped back again.

"No…"

A small trickle of blood erupted from his forehead.

"Not again…"

The trickle turned into a river as a gruesome hole began to open between his eyes. Dean started screaming; he felt it too. Raising his hand to his forehead he felt the warm, sticky liquid begin seeping from his skull. He fell to his knees, screaming louder as the pain intensified, his eyes locked on Themba. The African boy said nothing, the hole in his head the diameter of a 10c coin. His eyes were beginning to go glassy as he died as he stood. Dean was unable to compensate the pain anymore; he could feel it, like a metal worm slowly burrowing through his brain. He felt it hit the back of his skull and it suddenly started ricocheting around, turning his grey matter into pea soup.

The rest of the group watching in horror as Dean screamed in agony in front of them, clutching his head. Nobody moved, all in shock to his strange behavior. There was nothing outwardly wrong with his head, they all could see that.

Things started to go black as Dean felt the pain drift into numbness. Themba was still in front of him, hanging limply as if being held up by puppet strings. As his vision faded Dean noticed an older African man stride up behind him. The man's face was tattered and worn and he wore a long cloak and a tall head piece. He squatted down so his face was level with Dean's.

"Your pain shall not go unrewarded," the Basugain priest hissed, his breath foul.

Dean slumped over, falling onto his side.

"Dean!" Michelle and Tasmin called, both rushing to him.

Tasmin quickly checked his pulse and breathing.

"He's definitely alive," she said her alarm dying down.

Michelle took his hand in hers. Tasmin lifted his eyelids and sighed, "He's in some kind of coma."

"How did Themba die?" Michael asked for a third time.

"He was shot, right between the eyes," Vuyani said sadly, "he and Dean were like brothers…"

"Was it an accident?" Kuki asked.

"That is what we like to think," he stared angrily at Michelle, "but there have always been rumors of otherwise, and I'm sorry to say that those suspicions have been confirmed."

Michelle looked back at him and her head fell. The runes and hieroglyphs of the walls stopped glowing and the room fell into darkness. Then a torch at the other end of the chamber burst into blue flames.

"The first test is completed," Vuyani said, as if he was reading it from a manual, "the one who's soul was most stained by sin among us has fallen, we can proceed."

"We can't just leave him here!" Michelle exclaimed.

"Do you want to carry him?" Vuyani snapped back, "This is his judgment, he must face it; there is nothing we can do for him."

"What if he wakes up?"

"We should be making our way back by that time," Vuyani said turning around.

"How can you be so cold?!" Michelle demanded, "He's your friend."

"A friend would not lie to a friend!" Vuyani yelled, spinning to face her, "I defended you two because you told me that it was an accident, I fought the council because, even though all the evidence pointed otherwise, I believed you were innocent, I trusted you, a mistake I will not make again."

He turned again and started walking as Michelle sat staring after him.

"I'll stay with him," Tasmin said calmly, "It's the least I can do."

"Fine," Nigel said, "we'll pick you two up on the way out."

Tasmin nodded her conformation as Hoagie helped Michelle back to her feet. They passed through the exit arch and found themselves in another passage like the one they had come through when they entered the temple.

"Dejá Vu," Hoagie grinned as they proceeded.

A few people chuckled, more out of nervousness than anything else. They walked in twos; Nigel and Kuki behind Vuyani and Moosk and Hoagie and Abby behind them. Natalie and Michael took the rear. Wally drifted between Nigel and Kuki and Abby and Hoagie, his hands dug into his pockets. Michelle was the other loner, walking quietly in front of Michael and Natalie. He stared down at the floor, refusing to recognize the obvious halve in the group; a halving he had seemed to be left out of. He glared at Kuki; she had again slung her arm around Nigel's. He cursed under his breath. All that crap she said on the dunes… that kiss, and now this? Plans of running off with Nigel? He shut his eyes and shook his head, hoping the violent shaking would knock his thoughts into place. He groaned; the confusion had given him a headache. Abby had always warned him not to attempt thought. They moved into another antechamber with an almost identical archway as before, the runes were slightly different though still glowed blue. They all looked expectantly at Michael, who had moved in front of them to read.

"_Test 2: the test of mind. Only those of pure mind may possess our treasure, clear and careful thought will do more for you than ever._"

"Numbuh 5 says we should leave Numbuh 4 here or he'll kill us all," Abby said with an unimpressed face jabbing her thumb at the Aussie.

Hoagie laughed and Nigel couldn't help a snigger.

"Yeah, yeah," Wally muttered, "let's just get this over with, hmm?"

"Remember what ever you think you're seeing in there, there's a good chance it's a hallucination," Nigel warned, "keep your head level."

They walked through, a nearly identical chamber opening up in front of them; the only difference was a large wooden door on the left wall. As they reached the center of the room a large thump was heard form behind it. Everyone stopped and upholstered their weapons in a one motion. A second thump. Silence. A third. The wood creaked.

"I don't think what ever is behind that door is a hallucination," Hoagie whined, "don't you think we should…"

A forth thump, and louder creaking.

"…leave?"

Nigel opened his mouth to answer but was stopped by another thump as everyone saw splinters fly from the door. There was silence as everyone waited for whatever was coming. The next thump was more of a crash as the door flew of its hinges in a million pieces. There was a horrifying roar and a huge four legged creature stepped into the dim chamber. It stood at 12 feet at head height, its hulking back at about 9. It was covered in mangy black fur, its body shape looking like that of a lion. Its head was almost human; two human eyes, human ears, a human nose. Its hair was long and the same black as its fur but definitely looked like human hair. Its mouth in the other hand was not human at all; it stretched from about an inch from its ear across its face. As the beast opened his mouth slightly, hundreds of skew yellow teeth jutted from black gums. It roared again and charged at the group. They immediately scattered, firing heavily into its hulk. The room lit up time and time again as pistols in all directions were fired. Large arcs of blue lightning surged between the creature and Hoagie's B.U.Z.Z.O.O.K.A but had little effect. Its eyes scanned the room, looking for its target. Wally had backed himself against a wall and had just finished firing a clip into the beast's back. He flipped the catch on the side on his Winchester 28 cal. and the empty magazine clattered on the ground at his feet. The creature slowly turned to face him as he began to more frantically try and unhook another mag' from his belt. He dropped it, cursing as he bent down to retrieve it. Still bent over he froze as he felt a blast of hot, vile smelling air toss his hair around. Standing slowly, he looked up to see the creature standing right in front of him. It glared down at him with blood-red eyes.

"_What walks on four legs at sunrise, two legs at noon and three at sunset?"_ a voiced echoed in his head.

Wally blinked, unsure if he had imagined it. The shooting had stopped, everyone confused as to why the creature had stopped attacking.

"_What walks on four legs at sunrise, two legs at noon and three at sunset?"_ the voice came again.

"Uh, guys," he called out, "why is this thing is giving me a pop quiz?"

"What do you mean?" Nigel called back.

"It just asked me some stupid riddle, didn't you hear it?"

"I didn't hear anything," Abby said.

Natalie's eyes widened in realization, "It's a sphinx!"

"Of course," Michael said, "the head of a man and the body of a lion, why didn't I think of that?"

"Like that giant stone thing in Egypt?" Michelle asked, confused.

'Exactly," Michael said stroking his chin, "and that must mean our friend Wallabee is in one of ancient Egypt's most famous riddles, if he answers correctly, he lives, but if he gets it wrong, well, lets just say a point will be made."

He motioned towards the sphinxes claws.

"The sphinx riddle?" Moosk said in disbelief, "But everyone knows answer to that!"

"Everyone but Wally," Abby groaned, "I told ya we shoulda left him outside!"

"You have to answer the question Numbuh 4," Nigel called out him, "this creature is a sphinx."

"Like that stone thing in Egypt?" Wally asked, his face twisting in confusion.

"Yes, if you get the question right; you live, if you don't; you die."

"Isn't there a third option?"

"Just answer the question, Einstein!" Abby yelled.

"_What walks on four legs at sunrise, two legs at noon and three at sunset?"_ the voice bellowed again, _"Answer now."_

_Shit, shit, shit! Alright, think Wally, think. Walks on four legs at sunrise, two legs a noon and… hmmmm, noon… what time is it? I'm hungry, I'm sure we missed lunch. Man, what I'd do for some cheese fries right about now. Mmmmmmm, cheese fries. No ketchup. Damn Joey! Always spashin' ketchup over mine 'cause he finished his. Stupid toddler, always crawling around so I can't see him coming. They're just as bad as old people. I hate walking sticks…_

"WALLY!" Hoagie, Abby, Kuki and Nigel yelled in unison.

_Oh right, life or death. Crawls at sunrise, crawls… at… sunriiiiissseeee…_

All hope started to drain away as the others saw the look of utter and sheer cluelessness on Wally's face.

"We're dead," Abby sighed, face-palming.

Hoagie took Momo off his shoulder and held him out in front of him, "In case we don't make it out of here, I want you to know, you're the best monkey I ever had."

Kuki rolled her eyes.

"Man," Wally said calmly.

Everyone did a double take.

"_Elaborate," the voice said._

Wally scrunched his nose, "wha…"

"_Explain your answer."_

"Oh right, well, a man crawls on all fours at the sunrise of his life, when he's a baby, walks upright when he's an adult, the noon of his life and walks with a walking stick when he's old, y'know, like a third leg."

The sphinx grunted in approval, _"Well done, you're not as dumb as you look, you may pass."_

It then turned as stalked back into the dark door it had come from, the door reforming in the empty arch behind it.

Wally brushed himself off and turned to his friends. They were all frozen, staring in disbelief.

"What?" he asked.

_Office of SG Ban Ki__ Moon, UNO Headquarters, Manhattan NY_

Ban Ki sat quietly behind his desk reading the contents of a large file. The door opened as his assistant Martina Curtis poked her head in.

"How's the digging going?" he asked without looking up.

"Call for you on line one," Martina said urgently

"I thought I said I didn't want to be disturbed this morning," Moon sighed.

"Its 554," she said cutting him off.

Moon dropped the file and grabbed the phone, nodding for Martina to leave.

"Matt my boy," he said as the door shut, "how are things on the moon?"

"We've hit a bit of a snag," the voice came from the receiver, "Mackenzie is missing."

"My, my," Moon chimed, his voice calm despite the panic in 554's, "that is a bit of a problem."

"I'm afraid without the information she possesses I cannot give you access to the archives."

"Uh-uh, but you owe me a great deal, Matty, if it wasn't for my specialists you would never have found that bug in Mackenzie's office. You now run the KND, I presume?"

"After Mackenzie's disappearance by default I was placed in charge until a TAG game can be organized, yes, but…"

"And that was my end of the bargain, now you need to fulfill yours."

"Technically, Mackenzie ran on her own, I had nothing to do with…"

"She ran, no doubt, due to the shame caused by the information _I_ helped you gather."

"But she was the only one who knew the identity of the Archives Operator, and since the announcement of my command the Archives have been locked and every Moonbase operative has started playing the silence game."

"Then I'm afraid we're going to have to resort to Plan B," Moon sighed, mock displeasure in his voice.

"NO!" 554 exclaimed, "I said that was not an option; the Kids Next Door will not become another UN project. We're not some third world country you can just have your way with."

"Oh so now you're loyal?" Moon asked in amused confusion.

"I've always been loyal to the Kids Next Door," 554 said sternly, "I just believed…"

"That you could do a better job running it," Moon finished his sentence, "I have heard it a thousand time, Matty, y'wanna know from who? The current president of Ghana, the general of the West African Liberation Militia, the Prime Minister of Burma and the list goes on. You give yourself too much credit Numbuh 554; you are just another stubborn third world country, and you made the same mistake as every one of those leaders, you got yourself into debt with the United Nations, and now, its pay day. I'll give you a month to either get me what I want, or I will be forced to take action, understood."

"Yes sir," 554 mumbled.

"That's a good boy," Moon smirked, "and remember: it's for the good of world peace."

* * *

**Yeah, the UNO is evil, but what can I say? I'm a conspiracy theorist. I wanted to fit the last chamber into this chapter but decided this was a good way to end it.**

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**Dark**Mike

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	20. Treasure

**Chapter 20: Treasure **

_Church of Aubeth, small island, Central Pacific_

There was silence in the church. The morning's service had come and gone and the crowds of children and teens had moved on to their combat classes. A man of about forty knelt at the base of a magnificent altar which dominated the back wall of the temple. The man was dressed in an dark blue cassock with a red collar, his graying hair slicked back and out of his aging face. His eyes were shut and his hands rested in his lap.

"And bless thy, oh Goddess, for your humble task of giving us the channel to the God and his divine children," he chanted.

He drew a circle with a horizontal line through it on his chest with his finger.

"Ayteth."

There was a loud creaking as the large wooden doors to the church opened. The man smiled as he heard the sound of petite footsteps scurrying toward him.

"Good morning, sister," he said warmly, standing up.

The young girl of 14 dressed in a habit, minus the headpiece, similarly coloured as the man's apparel came to a stop in front of him and bowed.

"I am so sorry to bother during worship, Father Joshua," she said, "by you said you'd like to be told when Mr. Fernandez sent the transport for Mr. Gilligan, Miss Lincoln and Miss Panderious."

"Who is piloting the transport?" Joshua asked.

"Simon and Cindy," the girl said, "Julia is with them."

"As expected," he nodded and clasped his hands together "Gather some help, Maria, and begin the preparations for her majesty's arrival. You remember what to do?"

"Yes Father," Maria smiled.

"Good girl, now get going."

Maria scurried off.

"May Silyusia walk with you child," the priest smiled.

_Father's office_

"You wanted to see us Father?" the voices of the Delightful Children from Down the Lane asked in unison.

Father was reclining in his chair and looked cheerful. This worried them greatly.

"Yes my loyal children," he said smiling, "I have called you here to deliver some sad news."

He straightened himself in his chair.

"I'm leaving."

"What?!" the Delightful Children exclaimed, "but Father how could you leave at…"

"Now, now," he pacified, "my time as Father is over, there is nothing that can be done, and so I give you this option; you are delighfulized, there is nothing I can do to reverse the process, but I can offer you a complete mind wipe and the return of you to your families."

"You are our Father," they stated firmly, "this is our family."

"I am touched by your undying loyalty," Father sighed, "but before you make your decision please read this."

He handed them a piece of official looking paper. Five sets of eyes scanned the page at the exact same time. A look of shock struck their faces as they read.

"We'll take the mind wipe," they said in disgust, "there is no way in **hell** that we will work for him."

"I thought as much," Father smiled, "I'll make the arrangements."

The Delightful Children stormed out leaving Father alone. He clapped, the lights turning off. Flicking his wrist he flung a fire ball at the fireplace, lighting it. Reclining, he poured himself a glass of whiskey and, sipping the alcohol, he smiled, and waited.

_Lost City, deep within the temple_

They were climbing now; the passage from the second chamber had started level but had suddenly turned into an incline. Nigel was really struggling; his leg throbbing with every step. Kuki was supplying as much support as she could, at one point she had turned to ask Wally for help. He looked down when she looked at him but not before she caught a glimpse of the death glare the back of her head had been receiving. She sat next to him now as they took a small break, slumping themselves against on of the walls. Nigel's leg was bleeding again, and after rewrapping his bandages she turned to her crush. His face was half hidden by his arms as he rested on his knees, but Kuki understood the look on confusion in his eyes and cross of his brow; he was thinking, or at least trying to. Abby and Hoagie were seated a good meter away from them on Wally's side and Nigel had seemed to have dozed off, so, sensing some privacy, she placed a hand on the side of his cheek. He didn't move, his eyes still staring out in front of him.

"Wally," she said softly, "what's wrong?"

"Nothin'," he grunted.

She sighed, taking her hand away. She pulled her legs up to her chest and sat in silence with him.

"No matter what happens," she said eventually, "what happened on the dunes the other night, I… I meant it, every word."

He looked up at her, his bright blue eyes locking onto her almost lavender ones.

"And if this was a perfect world, then we could be together, but things aren't going to work out that way… not yet."

"So you really are going to run with Nigel?" Wally asked softly.

Kuki didn't say anything and looked down.

"I'll take that as a yes," he said gruffly, "but what about me? You and Nigel are running, Abby and Hoagie are running; I'll be the only one left."

His voice was sad and his eyes pained. He looked like he was on the brink of tears. Kuki scooted up closer to him and he placed an arm around her.

"You need to go back, for all of us. You need to make sure the memory of Sector V is never forgotten," she said, "make sure people know the good we did."

He hugged her tighter.

"You talk like we're never going to see each other again," Wally sighed.

"We're not," she said, "not like this. I can feel it, so many years of waiting for bad things to happen… I just know when it's coming."

There was a brief pause as the two looked at each other.

"Well in that case…" Wally said suddenly moving his face down to hers. They kissed, but it was nothing like their first one out on the dunes, no butterflies, no lightheadedness, no feeling of floating away on a cloud; just a feeling of longing, the need to be with one another, the want to stay as they were forever. Their faces parted and Kuki was crying. He held her again.

Hoagie watched the scene from where he was sitting and sighed. It was all they wanted, all anyone wanted for them, but the feeling of impending doom they were all feeling was making it such a sad thing to see. He turned to look at Abby and noticed she was watching too, a single tear running down her face. He pulled her into a hug and smiled at her reassuringly as they parted. She smiled back and sat against him, leaning on his chest allowing one of his arms to fall around her. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Hoagie let his own head lean back against the wall and stared at the wall across from them.

Nigel just sighed to himself, keeping his eyes shut.

Vuyani started to stand but was stopped by Moosk's large hand on his shoulder.

"We should get going," the African boy protested.

"Give them last moment of peace together," the Russian said smiling softly, "Moosk has feeling they won't get chance like this in long time."

Vuyani looked out at the group, lingering for a few seconds before sitting back down.

"The calm before the storm," he muttered.

There was another ten minutes of silence before it was interrupted by Nigel standing.

"Let's move," he said stretching, "I don't know about the rest of you but I just want to get this over with; I am dying for a proper shower."

"We can smell that," Hoagie called out.

Everyone laughed as they slowly rose to their feet. Nigel stumbled as he started walking and in a flash Kuki was at his side, helping him stand.

"I'm fine," he laughed, "I can walk by myself."

"No you can't," Kuki argued, "not with your leg still springing leaks."

"Moosk agrees," Moosk said coming up behind the bald Brit, "that is why Moosk will help; you walk with friends, Comrade 3."

He motioned his large head towards Wally who was just standing up. Kuki smiled and nodded walking up beside him and grasping his hand.

The group walked on for another half an hour before finally entering a third antechamber. Again a large arch was cut into the far wall and again it was surrounded by glowing runes and hieroglyphs. Michael made his way to the front and squinted at the text.

"_Test 3: the test of will. You've made it this far and we're impressed, we're sorry you've had to endure the rest, for this is the final chamber in which, all sloth and uncertainty you must ditch. Whereas with a sharp mind and a noble soul you cannot go wrong, you'll find that the will of any man can be twice as strong. So take this final task of faith were your need to survive will be tested, if you succeed our treasure is yours and we'll accept we've been bested."_

"Yup, another walk in the park," Michelle said in an exhausted tone.

"This is it," Nigel said, "once we get through whatever this is and have located the candy, we make a call to Moonbase and they'll send a retrieval team. We just need to sit tight until they arrive."

Everyone nodded.

"I think we should go in hot," Natalie said pulling her pistol from her jacket pocket, "I don't want to be unprepared for any more surprises."

"Agreed," Nigel said, "Weapons free."

Pistols and KND weapons of all shapes and sizes emerged. Moosk somehow produced a shotgun. Wally stared at it in disbelief.

"Where was **that** when I was being chased by a giant sphinx?!" he exclaimed.

Moosk shrugged, "Moosk didn't think it was that much of emergency."

"Not that much of a… WHAT ARE YOU **CRAZY**?!"

"Close," Michael said shaking his head and smiling, "he's Russian."

Moosk bellowed with laughter.

"Too much vodka and cold weather," he chuckled, "goes straight to head."

"Everyone ready?" Nigel asked, "Kids Next Door, move out."

They entered the chamber cautiously, expecting another room the same as the previous two, but were horribly wrong. The room was gigantic; round with a domed roof and a large pillar running up the middle. And unlike the other chambers the walls were bare, not a single bit of script could be seen anywhere. The air was bitterly cold and dead still and for some reason the blue glow illuminating the rest of the city was absent. Instead the room was lit by a bright yellow light which's source could not be identified.

"And now, your forecast for the week:" Hoagie said in his best news anchor voice, "sunny in Cursed Creepy Temple with temperatures reaching a high 20°F and…"

An ominous gust of wind suddenly blasted them.

"Would you shut up!" Abby hissed, "You're pissing off the spirit people."

The faded sound of a growl echoed throughout the chamber, followed by another, this time louder.

"That does not sound friendly," Wally said looking up.

The growls become even louder accompanied by the occasional roar. Another blast of wind swept through. Vuyani was sweating, he knew what was coming. Looking up as well he saw it a dark cloud of black mist descending upon them. The rest of the group noticed as well and moved in closer together. Moosk looked at Vuyani and sighed.

"nXd'bwe," he said softly.

The cloud picked up speed now, rushing towards them. It slowly started to split into three as it fell, a pair of what looked like glowing red eyes in the front of each segment. Suddenly the head of a large cat appeared. It roared, showing two rows of bleach white sharp teeth.

"These are the creatures I warned you about, Doctor," Vuyani yelled, "Twilights!"

"I don't recall any kind of… I mean, I don't remember seeing anything about…" Michael stammered; fear setting in.

The three clouds hit the ground, now fully formed. Everyone was frozen in fear as they realized what was standing in front of them; three **huge** cats, leopard in shape. They were pitch black and growled and hissed at the group exposing bleach white teeth. Momo gave a squeak of terror and scurried off Hoagie's shoulder sprinting off to hide. Everyone but Michael stood with weapons ready. He was subconsciously slowly backing up, eyes locked on the horrifying beasts in front of him. He was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. Michael's gaze followed the arm up to its owners face to see Natalie looking at him, her usual facial expression plastered across her perfect complexion. She pulled a second pistol from her jacket.

"Oh no," Michael said raising his hands, "You know I couldn't…"

"Stay behind me," Natalie said sternly and Michael nodded.

The blond Brit then unclipped the safety latch on the side of the gun. Michael looked up at her and smiled. Natalie hesitated for a moment but smiled back before turning around and standing directly in front of him. The Twilights suddenly became more aggravated; growling, roaring and snapping more and more.

"You may have royalty in your midst," the front one said, "but your blood will stain this floor."

"It can talk?!" Wally shouted, horrified.

As if some kind of leash had been released the Twilights bounded forward. One threw itself into Moosk as the two began wrestling on the ground.

"Kitty wants to play?!" he bellowed, "Moosk has fought buffalo bigger that you!"

The other two went for other members of the group. Moosk was using one hand to hold his attacker's head down and was pounding into its side with the other. The Twilight's head suddenly broke free and it lunged forward, sinking its teeth into his right forearm. Moosk was unaltered by the bite and, grabbing his shotgun from the floor beside him, began beating the beast's head with the butt of the gun. The Twilight finally let go and Moosk kicked it off him. It slid two meters on its side and sprung to its feet. Moosk was already next to it; kicking it over again he began to fire shell after shell into the Twilight's side. The cat finally stopped moving and Moosk paused, looking at it carefully. Shaking slightly the beast stood back up again. Moosk swore as it bounded towards him for a second round.

Natalie and Abby ran at the Twilight charging at them. As it leapt at Natalie for a takedown, she slid onto her back, the creature's torso passing right over her. She raised her foot at kicked it over her, Abby firing an entire clip its now exposed belly. The Twilight grunted in pain as it hit the floor but was back on its feet in seconds pacing at them again. Natalie spun as it reached her, delivering a solid roundhouse kick to its head sending the cat sprawling.

"Whoa!" Abby exclaimed.

"8 years of kickboxing," Natalie shrugged, "it comes in handy."

Their conversation was cut short as Abby had the wind knocked out of her as the Twilight tackled her from the side. Her head spun as she looked up to see the beast growling down at her. It raised its head, its teeth gleaming, ready to bite her trachea out.

"Abby!" somebody screamed as a bolt of blue lightning struck the oversized leopard, flinging it back. Abby was yanked to her feet and pulled into a hug.

"Are you okay?" Hoagie's voice asked next to her ear.

"I'm fine," Abby blushed at the level of their contact, "but don't you think we should be focusing on the big scary cats trying to kill everyone?"

"Oh right," Hoagie laughed letting go of her. He pulled the B.U.Z.Z.O.O.K.A back on his shoulder and the two of them ran off to help protect Michael.

The poor guy was pinned up against a wall, Natalie standing in front of him desperately fighting off the gnashing black mass of teeth and claws. Hoagie fired again, the blast sending it flying across the room, Abby and Natalie taking off after it. It bounced once before flipping onto its feet, gaining balance it growled at them. The Twilight's eyes widened and its growl turned into a whimper as out of nowhere Moosk slammed himself into it. They switched targets as Natalie and Abby turned their attention to the Twilight that had been perusing him. A sickening thud was heard as they both smashed their guns into its face. The Twilight skidded to a halt, tenderly pawing its dented nose. Abby looked over at Natalie and smiled in satisfaction. But Natalie's face was still serious, Abby turned back to the Twilight it see its snout shifting back into its original shape. It growled again and bounded at them.

Wally and Kuki were fighting as one, ducking and weaving to avoid the Twilights swipes and bounds. As Kuki zigged, Wally zagged, dodging another attack, their usual "tire it out" tactic. But the creature wasn't slowing down, if fact, its attacks just seemed to become more vicious it became more and more irritated. Wally ducked under a swiping claw and fired three rounds into its head while Kuki circled round it to be ready to counter the next attack. Michelle paced up to join them giving a swift jump kick into its side. She and Kuki's eyes locked for a moment, distrust evident to both. Wally landed a firm uppercut under the Twilight's chin. It stumbled back towards Kuki. Grabbing its tail she started running in the opposite direction, causing the cat to spin around and gnash at her. She dived back, its teeth barely missing her. She shot at it again, but let out a cry of despair as she saw the bullets have no effect.

"This isn't working!" she yelled.

Natalie was starting to feel tired; she pulled Michael along, yanking him out the way as the Twilight perusing them smashed into the ground in front of them. Hoagie knelt and fired again, sending the cat flying like a rag doll, _again_. He lowered if off his aching shoulder and checked the small screen built into the microwave that made up the center of the device.

"This things running on juice!" he called out.

"I'm running low myself!" Abby replied.

Natalie cursed in frustration as squeezed the trigger of her pistol only to hear a taunting 'click'.

"I'm out," she yelled tossing the weapons aside.

As if they knew what was happening, the Twilights seemed to slow down. One circled Natalie and Michael, growling at them and swiping every now and then.

"What is it doing?" Natalie whispered to Michael.

"It's a cat," he said with a shaky voice, "It knows it's worn us down; it's playing with its food."

Out of nowhere it bounded at them, Natalie ducking just on time for the Twilight to pass over her. She spun around for the next attack but it just started circling again. Another was doing the same with Nigel, Vuyani and Moosk, and the last with Wally and Kuki. Abby, Hoagie and Michelle looked on, unsure of what to do.

"Do you hear it brothers?" the one circling Kuki and Wally called out, "Do you hear the Gods calling?"

"They want blood;" the one circling Natalie and Michael sniggered sinisterly, "blood must spill."

"Someone must die here," the last said gnashing at Nigel, "a sacrifice must be made."

"We mean no trespass," Nigel said to it, "we are simply here to make sure your treasure does not fall into the wrong hands."

"We care not of your intentions, human, we were sent to kill, and that is what we shall do. "

"We have treated this temple with the utmost respect," Nigel pleaded, "we have completed the first two tests fairly, we have done nothing to anger your gods."

The Twilight seemed to laugh, "How long has it been brothers? How long has it been since a human last pleaded us for its miserable life?"

"Too long," the one circling Natalie and Michael growled.

"I'm afraid the facts are this; you are here and therefore we have to kill you," Nigel's Twilight said simply, "we serve the Gods, and unless you can defeat us, it will always be that way."

"And if we defeat you?" Nigel asked hopefully.

"You waste our time with your questions, human."

"Think of it as a last request."

"Very well, if you defeat us, our power is at your disposal. Do it."

"Do what?" Nigel asked.

"AAAAGH!!!" Kuki screamed from behind him.

Nigel spun, staring in horror as a huge gash in her left arm spilt blood on the floor next to where she was lying. The Twilight which had been circling her and Wally had knocked the Aussie aside and had attacked her. Blood dripped from its right paw. The other Twilights turned and started running towards the downed girl. Wally as disorientated as he saw the three huge cats converge on Kuki.

"NO!" he screamed.

It happened out of nowhere. The Twilights were just about to bear down on their victim when they began to slowly rise into the air. All eyes turned to Nigel, who had his arm outstretched in front of him. The rest was in slow motion. Moosk, realizing what was happening, grabbed Vuyani and dived away from Nigel. He them began screaming for everyone to turn away. Everyone did, except Natalie who was hypnotized by what she was seeing. Michael, who had also made the connection as to what was happening, grabbed her arm and pulled her onto the ground with him. There was a blast of heat that erupted from Nigel's body knocking anyone who was standing to the ground. The Twilights were still in mid air. Kuki looked up to see their confused faces as they hovered. Wally ran up to her and pulled her away, wrapping her in his arms and shielding her from Nigel's direction. The heat intensified as a second blast shook the room. Abby looked up to see a circle of fire surrounding Nigel's feet. A black patch appeared on one of his shoes and slowly began rising up his legs. It left behind it a dark silhouette rimmed in red. This covered his entire body, encasing him and leaving him as a dark shadowy figure that they all knew all too well.

"No way," Hoagie muttered in amazement.

An aura of pain spread between Sector V as they saw their leader become their worst enemy.

"The transition of Flammabatis," one of the Twilights said, "A transformation which usually takes years. We have underestimated you, human."

Nigel removed his glasses to reveal glowing yellow eyes.

"Not to worry," he said, "the mistake won't be made again."

A massive column of fire erupted from Nigel's outstretched hand, engulfing the Twilights. They roared in agony as they were incinerated. The fire stopped and a small onyx pendent dropped to the ground. The Fire surrounding Nigel died out and the dark silhouette faded. The bald Brit dropped to his knees in exhaustion. There was complete silence as everyone looked around at everyone else. Kuki bandaged her bleeding arm and stood up, walking to where Nigel had slumped over. She knelt next to him and helped him to his feet, supporting him as he tried to stand. Wally stood and looked at them. Hoagie, Abby and Michelle just sat were they were, staring on. Michael helped Natalie to her feet and walked her over to where they were sitting. Vuyani and Moosk also picked themselves up and moved over to Wally. There was a rumble as they felt the ground start to move underneath them. Sections of the chamber floor started retracting into the chamber walls. Then they saw it. As the floor moved a sea of shining candies took its place; piles of priceless strawberry rubies, blurpleberry sapphires and apple emeralds, but it was almost like they didn't notice. Abby was glaring at Kuki who was glaring right back and Nigel, Wally and Hoagie were exchanging narrow glances. Natalie, Michael, Vuyani, Michelle and Moosk found themselves in between.

"So?" Wally said calmly, "Now what?"

"I call Moonbase and ask Numbuh 362 to send the retrieval team," Nigel said producing his video phone from his pocket with his free hand.

"Numbuh 362 isn't in charge of this operation anymore," Vuyani sighed dipping his head.

"What?" Nigel was dumbfounded.

"She was removed from command due to conflict of interests, but then again you know all about that, don't you?"

Nigel froze; everyone was looking at him again. Silence followed as he struggled to find his words.

"Guys!" Michelle called, "The pillar!"

Nigel felt a slight relief as the attention was turned to the large column in the center of the room. Sections of the pillar were sliding away to show it was hollow. An almost blinding blue light erupted from the cracks and lit up the room as the outside shell continued to disappear. Then, in the center, an orb of blue light emerged, bobbing ever so slightly. Everyone was mystified.

"So that's what has been lighting up the city," Michael said softly, "My god, it's beautiful."

"It must be the great and powerful treasure the hieroglyphics have been speaking of," Natalie said in the same hushed tone.

Michelle was staring in shock and fear. She had seen it somewhere before…

_Antsirabe, Madagascar, 3 years earlier_

_Michelle threw the door to her grandmother's simple two room cottage open and stormed in._

"_Gran!" she called, "I'm here!"_

"_In here, darling!"_

_Michelle followed the sound of her grandmother's voice into her study/bedroom to find her, as usual, bent over a large book._

"_Jeeze, gran!" the nine year old exclaimed, "reading still? This is how I left you on Saturday!"_

"_When you're as old as me," the elderly woman smiled, "you'll understand, so don't give me lip. How was school?"_

"_Meh," Michelle said slumping onto her grandmother's queen-sized bed, "School was school."_

"_And your aunt?"_

"_Sick again," Michelle sighed, "Doctor Rodriguez says it's Bronchitis."_

"_I'll bet."_

_There was silence as the two thought about the situation._

"_What you reading?" Michelle said deciding to change the subject. She stood up and looked over her grandmother's shoulder._

"_Nothing a good Christian girl such as yourself should worry about," she replied, "Did you go to church on Sunday?"_

"_Yes Gran," Michelle chimed, "but that's what you always say."_

_She looked down at the worn page and pointed at a diagram of a blue circle with a few people bowing down to it, "What's that?"_

"_Oh gosh," her grandmother sighed, giving in, "your curiosity will be the death of me. That is the Eye of Silyusia; an ancient orb of pure power said to be too powerful for any man to wield, it could only be accessed by Princess Silyusia, the undying Queen of Atlantis."_

"_Undying?"_

"_She was reincarnated after every one of her deaths, being reborn from the same royal bloodline."_

_Michelle stared down at another picture on the opposite page, it was of a woman standing in a pool of water. She was wearing long white robes and a hood over her head. A simple tiara sat on top of the hood._

"_Is that her?" she asked._

_The older woman followed her gaze to picture of the woman. There was a moment of slight panic._

"_Yes but…"_

"_She kinda looks like…"_

_Michelle jumped back as the book slammed shut._

"_Like I said," he grandmother smiled, "nothing for a girl such as you to be worried about. How about some tea?"_

_Michelle looked scared for a moment but her face lightened at the mention of her Gran's famous Rooibos tea._

"_Have you got any biscuits?" she asked eagerly bounding out of the room._

"_We'll see," her grandmother laughed as she also made her way to the door. She slowly began to shut the door and her face dropped as she caught site of the book on her desk. She paused, glancing back at her granddaughter who was filling the kettle. Shaking her head she shut the door._

Michelle zoned back in to see Michael looking at her. He had noticed the look of realization on her face and was now staring expectantly.

"It's called the Eye of Silyusia," she said out loud, everyone turned to look at her.

"Impossible…" Natalie said softly.

"You know of it?" Michael asked.

"A bit," Natalie said thoughtfully, "It's an Atlantian legend. But what confuses me is how she knows of it."

"My grandmother was a bit of a 'historian of the strange'," Michelle said with a sigh, "she showed particular interest in anything to do with Atlantis."

"If its Atlantian," Abby said, "how the hell did it get down here?"

"What about those hieroglyphics in the entrance chambers?" Hoagie added, "Didn't you say that they spoke of Atlantians?"

The conversation was stopped but the sound of someone clapping. They all spun to see two figures standing in the entrance to the chamber.

"I am so proud," the clapping figure gushed, "Zis is all too precious!"

A series of metallic clicks followed as all remaining weapons pointed in the direction of the speaker.

"Put those toys down," the second figure laughed, "we know you're out of ammo."

"Henrietta Von Marzipan," Nigel said, "and is that Agent 9?"

"The one and only," Wayden smiled, the cigarette in his mouth shifting, "How's the leg, soutie?"

(A/N: _Soutie_ is derogative name used by Afrikaners when referring to English speaking people. The work is made of the Afrikaans word _sout_ meaning salt. It goes with the saying English [South African] people have one leg in South Africa and the other in England, letting their genitals hang in the sea, thus the reference to slat.)

"How did you get down here?" Abby called in disbelief.

"We've been here the whole time," Wayden smirked, "one step behind you, watching you doing all our work for us."

"Abigail?" Henrietta said sounding mock shocked, "All of zis candy surrounding you? Vhy aren't you stuffing your face?"

She waltzed over to the edge of one of the candy pits and grabbed a piece and popping it in her mouth. A look of pure ecstasy spread across her face.

"Oh mein god," she said, "And I thought ze Caramels of Karacrunuchulon vere something. We'll be taking all of it."

"So what are you expecting us to do?" Nigel laughed, "Roll over, lie down and let you walk out with this treasure? You know that's not how the Kids Next Door operates."

"Is zis a Kids Next Door operation?" Henrietta turned to Wayden, "Are zese people KND operatives."

"I dunno…" the teen said tapping his chin, "They don't look like KND operatives to me; look at those guns!"

"Who do you think you're kidding?" Henrietta laughed, "Yourselves, perhaps? Escape plans, deceit, intimate relationships, deals with Father; you're not kids, you're just ein few bra sizes and chest hairs short of full blown teenagers."

She looked at Abby and smiled.

"And you aren't doing too badly in zat department eizer."

Abby followed her gaze and blushed, pulling her legs to her chest. Everyone was silent, unable to look anyone else in the eye.

"Not all of us have fallen so into darkness," Vuyani snapped, "And as a proud KND operative I will not allow you to take this treasure."

"No see," Wayden said, "you are, because were you have no ammo…"

They produced a pistol each.

"…we have plenty."

Henrietta pulled out a radio with her other hand.

"Henry," she barked, "_ich werde die Bohrmaschine… ja… den groβen. Ja."_

"You lot just sit where you are," Wayden ordered, waving his pistol at the three separate collections of preteens.

Henrietta spoke for another minute or so before turning back to everyone.

"Is that our ride outta here?" Wayden asked turning his back to her to look into one of the candy pits.

"Zat vas my ride out of here, ja," Henrietta said simply slipping the radio back into her pocket.

"And by 'yours' you mean 'ours' right?" he asked absentmindedly.

"Not really," the girl sighed, "see, Wayden, you're a nice enough guy, and really cute but…"

She raised her gun. Nigel turned Kuki away and Abby shut her eyes.

"…I do haff a bit of ein problem with 'partners'."

She fired, making a neat hole in the back of Wayden's head. His forehead exploded as blood and pits of skull spattered out in front of him. He slumped to his knees and fell into the pit he was standing over. Agent 9 was dead.

"That, herr Abigail, can go on your conscience," Henrietta said calmly turning back to the horrified faces of her captives, "I'm sorry for the gore, but I needed to make sure you understand how serious I am."

_Father's office_

Father lay on the floor, his hand clutched to his chest. Harrison was kneeling over him franticly calling for help. Despite the pain of the heart attack; Father was smiling. He watched joyfully as the dark silhouette he had donned for so many years began to melt off his body. He grasped Harrison's shirt and pulled him down to face him.

"Thank you, Harrison," he said with a smile, "Make sure Nigel… is… given what is rightfully his."

And with that, he became still. The PA looked down at the man in a white shirt, blue suspenders and small bowtie and sighed. A few minutes later while the emergency crew revived him, Harrison picked up the sheet of paper on Father's desk.

"…_and by signing this, I hereby hand all of my personal and business related assets to my nephew, Nigel Uno, including ownership of Delightful Industries and my position as CEO."_

"Uh, Sam?" one of the paramedics called, causing him to put the paper back down.

"And?" Harrison asked, watching as they carried his boss out on a stretcher.

"He's alive, but his brain was deprived of oxygen for quite some time, he may have some brain damage, probably memory loss."

"As expected," Sam grumbled, "Thank you, take him to the infirmary. I'll take care of the rest."

The paramedic nodded as they wheeled Ben Uno out of his office for the last time.

* * *

**Only 3 chapters to go, hang in there people.**

**Review, I dare you. In fact I double dare you. Scratch that; I quadruple dare you, times a bahmillion!**

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**Dark**Mike


	21. Happy Endings

**Chapter 21: Happy Endings**

_Treasure Chamber_

A grotesque gurgling could be heard from the treasure pit Wayden had fallen into.

"I hate to ask," Wally said looking slightly green, "but what is that noise?"

"Zat, herr 4, is the sound of the last of the air being pushed out of dear Wayden's collapsing lungs and bubbling through the blood filling his throat and mouth," Henrietta smiled.

She stood leaning up against the base of the pillar, the glowing orb bobbing about just above her head. The rest were still sitting on the floor in their three groups; Nigel and Kuki in the middle, Abby, Hoagie, Michelle, Natalie and Michael on the right and Vuyani, Wally and Moosk on the left. Wally's face went greener and he turned away, taking deep breaths. Kuki was constantly fiddling with her arm and Nigel's leg; tightening bandages, looking at the bleeding and so on. Nigel just watched her blankly and his mind worked in overdrive trying to process what had just happened. He frowned and dug into his pocket pulling out the small bottle of painkillers, popping two pills in his mouth and swallowing hard. Hoagie had his arm over Abby and the two were sitting in silence. Michelle sat with her legs hugged tightly to her chest, every now and then squeezing her eyes shut and shuddering. Michael was staring intently at Nigel and whispering to himself. Natalie had being trying to hear what he was saying but had given up.

"How long is this 'ride' of yours going to take?" she asked impatiently.

"Anozer 40 to 50 minutes," Henrietta shrugged, "it's a big drill."

"Why haven't you tied us up?" Nigel asked, "You know how we work."

"Oh please," she laughed, "I know how **sector V** works."

She gestured towards the separation.

"Zis is not sector V."

Silence returned for a bit as Henrietta looked thoughtful.

"Considering your little adventure is about to come to sudden end, namely your deaths," she said, "I think a good plot device would be some closure."

"Meaning?" Abby sneered.

"Well look at yourselves! Sitting like your friends have the plague or something! Vot happened to zat whole warm, fuzzy, team thing you had going? Something happened and you lot need to talk about it before you die."

"You make it sound like a holiday," Nigel said.

"Votever," the blond sighed, "tell you vot; I'll explain myself if you talk?"

Abby's head raised and she glared at her former friend.

"But you haff to go first."

There was silence as everyone contemplated her offer.

"KND operatives run for one of two reasons," Nigel said finally, "either they've gone traitor or they're afraid to loose all the memories of their friends and accomplishments. But what I can't understand is how you two can fall into either of those categories; I know you aren't traitors, there are too many in the KND I know you care about, and as for the other, you two are some of the best operatives the KND has seen, and you both know of the TND, which, until this stunt, you would have been shoo-ins for, so…"

"Operation log file 12032004," Hoagie cut him off, "Codename: K.I.S.S, Kid's Identity Suddenly Sixteen. And quote, _'Numbuh 2's willingness to turn him self into a teenager so many time worries me. His obsession with Cree is beginning to cloud his judgment'._"

"Operation log file 30112005," Abby said staring at him, "Codename: V.I.R.U.S, Very Icky Research Under Sea. And quote, _'Numbuh 5's priorities need to be set straight. I realize that Cree is her sister but she is also an enemy of the KND, and her obligations to the KND need to come first. This is all so similar to the B.A.L.D incident; she needs to learn to keep her emotions in check before she does something really stupid'_."

Nigel was silent as he looked at them. Abby lingered for a moment but then turned away, burying her face in Hoagie's chest. The pilot was still solid.

"There are others," he said, "on all of us. TND operative candidates need spotless records, you made sure we didn't. I asked you not to submit that report, and I cannot believe you would bring up the B.A.L.D incident!"

"So what?" Nigel said defensively, "You expect me to go against KND regulation just because **you**screwed up?"

"I expect you to put your friends first, Nigel," Hoagie said, pain evident in his voice, "but that's always been your problem; it's why Lizzie left you and it's why this is happening. The KND always had top priority, and now you're going to be the next Father…"

Hoagie chuckled.

"…ironic justice."

Nigel's head fell and Kuki looked at him worriedly. She saw the look of defeat on the boy's face and frowned, shutting her eyes and biting her lip.

"You two are pathetic," she said softly.

The Asian girl looked up and gave the Hoagie and Abby a glare that could have welded titanium.

"Do you have any idea how much damage you've done?" she said, "Life isn't a bowl of Rainbow Munchies; shit happens, I had to learn that the hard way. Just because you can't deal with it gives you no right to blame someone else, especially someone who has enough to deal with already."

"Oh for heavens sake, get a room," Natalie sighed.

"Well sorry for actually having feelings," Kuki huffed, "we can't all be as cold as you."

"Well I can't stand melodramatics," she said simply, "you know what I think; I don't think you even know why you're fighting. I think whereas it may have had such sentimental reasons in the beginning, they fell away. You grew up, and all the things you held important faded away with your childhood. This little stunt is all you have left."

Abby thought of Cree in the months before her thirteenth. She seemed defeated at first, but that defeat started growing into anger and by the time the TEENZ approached her, she was so filled with rage she couldn't have said no. I was then when she realized that she had broken her biggest promise to herself.

"I remember going to a lecture of an old friend of mine," Nigel said sadly, not looking up, "Numbuh 15.5, the greatest KND profiler in the seventh age."

"You knew James Simmons?" Michael asked in surprise.

_Lecture theatre, Moonbase, a year earlier_

_Nigel sat silently in his seat, trying to absorb everything the over-enthusiastic 12 year old on the stage in front of him was saying. _

"_All KND operatives were the same;" the boy continued, "after spending your entire life thus far defending childhood, it becomes so much harder to loose. The thing that made a kid different was the way he or she deals with things; denial or submission at 80% of kids, tratorism at 20%, and utter confusion at 100%."_

_A boy near the front raised his hand and Numbuh 15.5 nodded in his direction._

"_So, with those figures," he asked, "we can be sure if someone's gonna be a traitor?"_

"_The only thing we can be sure of is that they're going to be very confused," the profiler replied, "Despite the internal dispute he or she will be having, you must remember that 13 is a very delicate age; hormones, which are the proven cause of adulthood, are flying about messing with everything; from your emotions to how often you need to pee."_

"_So you can't be sure if an operative will be a traitor or not?" a girl from somewhere to Nigel's left asked._

"_I never said that," Numbuh 15.5 smiled, "I'm just saying that we are too quick to blame these kids for actions they can barely control."_

"_Surely," Nigel asked now, "you are not justifying tratorism."_

"_Why, is the council listening?" the boy said with a look of mock fear on his face, "NO, NO, OF COURSE NOT! TRAITORS ARE A THREAT TO THE KND AND MUST BE TREATED AS SUCH!"_

_The crowd laughed._

"_My point," he continued, "is that we have to ask ourselves what we'd do in that situation, a situation in which we will all find ourselves one day. But I don't want you to sit thinking that you'll do the right thing, I want you to think as critically of yourself as possible; imagine the anger, the betrayal, the loss, the sadness. Put yourself in the shoes of Chad Dickson, of Mickey Vertinelli, of Cree Lincoln. A human being is an emotional time-bomb, we all have some kind of breakdown building within us all the time, something we don't notice and can stay concealed for years, and all it takes is one little spark to set it off. For most, this spark comes later in life; as a teen rebellion or mid-life crisis for instance, which is a healthy release. But for us, as KND operatives proud as we are, our imminent decommissioning can be that spark, and like a bomb going off prematurely, the results can be disastrous."_

"Well, it's too late for us," Wally said bitterly as Nigel finished retelling.

There was silence again.

"I never meant to hurt you guys," Nigel sighed, "I realize I'm obsessive."

He looked up and smiled, "I just wish we could start over."

"We didn't mean for you guys to get involved with what we were doing," Hoagie said sheepishly, he smiled, but Abby and Kuki were still frowning.

"Now doesn't zat make us feel a little better?" Henrietta said grinning.

"So what about you?" Abby asked, "Your turn."

"Fair enough, I'll tell, we're not zat different really. I lost vot was most precious to me as well, quite literally actually. But even vonce I vas changed back I found zat things just didn't fall back into place. Though I may look like Henrietta, she died years ago. Zat life is gone, the only life I haff is that of Heinrich. Good enough for you?"

"No," Abby said angrily, "after all I did to try and help you!"

"Just because you apologize to someone for eating zeir gumdrops, doesn't bring zem back, Abigail," Henrietta sighed, "besides becoming a girl again isn't all zat great, I vas a boy at a very important time of mein life, lets just say some confusion has come about."

"Confusion?" Wally asked.

"Oh, how do you Americans put it," she said, "I don't know which way I swing?"

She winked at Abby, who, to her own surprise, blushed.

In a far corner of the chamber Momo sat quietly behind a small statue. The loud noises had stopped and the fire was gone. Cautiously the small monkey peeked out from behind the statue searching for his owner. He spotted the light blue shirt of the young pilot and gave a nervous 'eek'; for the look in his eyes something was wrong. But what most upset the small simian was how close that other female was to his master. Longing from the security of the boy's shoulder Momo ignored his instinct of avoiding danger and scampered out from his hiding place. Hoagie looked up to his pet running at full pace towards them.

"Momo, NO!" he yelled.

Henrietta spun and saw the blur of brown-grey fur streaking towards her. In shock she shot at it, only for it to become airborne. Momo dived at her face in a muddle of fear and anger, attaching himself and screeching blue murder. Nigel saw the window of opportunity, and jumping to his feet started running at the German girl.

"Formation Yipper 498!" he yelled, "Kids Next Door: battle stations!"

Henrietta pulled Momo and tossed his aside, swearing in German. Momo just flipped in mid air and landed on his feet, still screeching angrily.

"Dirty little rat," the girl seethed, pointing her pistol at the monkey.

Momo seemed to smirk.

"One!"

Nigel grabbed her arm, twisting it and sending the gun flying up. Henrietta spun him round and knocked him to the ground, pulling a second pistol from her belt.

"Two!"

Hoagie ran and jumped grabbing the airborne gun in mid air and threw it to Kuki.

"Three!"

Kuki caught the gun and fired, sending the girl's second weapon flying.

"Four!"

Wally caught the gun and kicked Wayden's discarded gun up at Abby. Henrietta was trying to run now; she pushed past Nigel and made for the door.

"Five."

Abby caught the gun and spun, firing. Henrietta shrieked and dropped. The five pre-teens surrounded her as she clutched her bleeding knee.

"Oh I'm sorry were you using that kneecap?" Wally laughed.

He pulled her up and Hoagie bound her arms. Nigel turned to see Vuyani snapping his communicator shut.

"Retrieval team is on the way…" he said.

"Excellent," Nigel smiled as he bent over to pick up the small onyx pendant that still lay on the floor.

"…and a prisoner transport."

He froze.

"I'm sorry to do this," Vuyani sighed, "but, Numbuhs 1, 2, 5 and 663 you are under arrest by the authority of the KND Council."

"You don't have the authority of the council!" Abby yelled defiantly.

"I do now," the African boy said sternly, "I have been appointed to replace Numbuh 29. Moosk please assist Numbuh 3 and 4 in securing the prisoners."

Abby and Hoagie, with Momo back on his shoulder, backed up to join Michelle, who was staring in shock.

"Vuvu," she said softly.

Moosk and Wally responded, moving towards Nigel. Kuki stood between them and the bald leader.

"Kooks, what are you…" Wally began to say.

She raised the pistol she was still holding and pointed it a Vuyani.

"Take another step and Mr. Council gets a bullet in the brain," she said.

Wally and the large Russian backed off immediately.

"Numbuh 4!" Vuyani barked, "Arrest her!"

Wally reluctantly raised his own pistol.

"C'mon Kooks," he said uneasily, "let's calm down a bit…"

He stepped forward and Kuki fired, the bullet whizzing past Vuyani's head. The boy didn't flinch.

"Whereas guns and being shot at is a scary new experience to you," he said simply, "I've been shot at my entire life."

She fired again, the bullet this time kicking up the dust at Wally's feet.

"I don't want to," she said, tears forming under her eyes, "but if I have to I will."

"Back off, Numbuh 4," Vuyani said, "she means it."

Kuki heard a click behind her head.

"Kuki put the gun down," Abby said sternly.

Kuki laughed, "And then what they arrest me and Nigel? What about you and your little plan? You think they'll just let you go?"

Abby thought for a moment before removing the gun and pointing it at Wally.

"Truce?" she asked.

"For now," Kuki smirked.

"Wally?" Abby called, "Are you with us or with them?"

Wally looked at Kuki who allowed her frown to dissipate for a moment and smiled at him sweetly.

"Them," he said taking a deep breath, "Someone needs to make sure we're remembered for the good we've done."

Nigel caught his gaze and nodded. Abby hesitated and Hoagie came up from behind her placing his hand on her shoulder. She looked at him with unsure eyes and he smiled. She nodded smiling back.

"Dr. Dennis," Vuyani pleaded, "please help the Kids Next Door, as you have many times in the past, and stop this madness."

Natalie whispered in Michael's ear and he smiled.

"It would appear my allegiance is to the free thinkers," he said excitedly, "It's nothing personal, Vuyani, its just science."

"Of course," the African said warmly.

"Right," Abby said, "Wally, Moosk and Vuyani, go stand with Henrietta. Drop the gun."

"You are making a terrible mistake," Vuyani chuckled, walking over to the tied up girl, "The retrieval team will be here any moment; this place is going to be swarming with IIB agents, how exactly do you think you're going to escape?"

Wally tossed the gun on the ground at Hoagie's feet. He picked it up and checked that it was loaded.

"He's right," he said to Abby and Michelle while stroking Momo, "we were counting on at least getting to the surface before all this happened."

Michelle looked very thoughtful and suddenly smirked.

"What?" Hoagie asked.

"I have an idea," the red-head said, "move everyone to the base of the pillar."

She laughed at the blank expression on her friend's faces.

"Trust me."

A few moments later everyone was gathered at the pillar.

Michelle stepped up to the blue orb smiling at its beauty.

Abby came up behind her, "You're not thinking of doing what I think you're doing are you?"

A mass of shouting suddenly was heard as the KND forces entered the city.

"Yes, I am," Michelle said and thrust her hand into the orb.

There was a flash of blue light and the orb was gone. Michelle studied her hand to see her fingertips glow for a second, then fade. Panic set in as nothing happened and the KND moved in. Then everything started shaking. Dust and chunks of limestone began to fall from the roof. The floor began to rumble beneath them and a circle of it around the pillar began to rise. As they ascended more of the temple began to collapse and they passed through the hole in the roof they saw the sand that made up the dome around the city beginning to slip out of place. The KND were now flooding back into the entrance tunnel of the city. Michelle suddenly remembered her teammates sitting in the first chamber. She turned to announce her realization to see Moosk dive off the edge on their elevator. She rushed to the edge and looked over; he was looking back up at her as he fell. He smiled and nodded.

"Where does he think he's going?" Nigel exclaimed.

"I wouldn't worry," Michelle smiled, "he's a big boy; he can take care of himself."

Moosk hit the floor and rolled, springing right back onto his feet and into a full pace sprint. The man charged down the corridor into the second chamber. Pieces of ceiling rained down around him as he passed through the second antechamber and into the next passage. Bursting into the first chamber he saw them; a terrified Tasmin knelt over Dean's still unconscious body. She looked at him with wide eyes as the room fell apart around them. Moosk ran and knelt beside them and, digging in his pocket, produced a small metallic box.

"What's that?" Tasmin asked.

"Moosk keeps it for emergencies," the Russian smiled, "He thinks this qualifies, hmm?"

There was a loud crunch from above them as a large piece of rock came crashing down. Moosk pressed the small button on the top of the device and, in a flash of light; they were gone, seconds before the ceiling collapsed completely.

From her rising pillion Abby looked down to see the treasure chamber flood with sand as the dome collapsed inwards and watched as the Legendary Treasure of the Basuga was lost forever. She felt a sense of loss, perhaps the last of her childhood giving a final pang to the base of her stomach. Hoagie tugged at her shirt.

"Abs!" he yelled over the noise, "Look up!"

The sand that had been suspended above them seemed to be falling to the sides, running down the walls and filling the abyss under them. Then a small hole opened directly above them and the night sky came into view. Sand swirled around them as the wind picked up the shifting ocean of earth. The pillar continued to rise and what remained of the KND expedition team was bathed in moonlight and night air. The rumbling stopped and the pillar came to a halt. Nobody moved. The silence that followed was strange; no-one was sure of what to do. So by default, they found themselves taking in the beauty of the desert around them. Dunes, blue in the dark, stretched out in every direction them screaming with a deafening but awesome peace. A thousand things had been running through the minds of the nine pre-teens… no, **teens**, standing on that small disk of limestone during its assent, but now their thoughts were calm, overcome to the point of collapse. Soon though, each began silently considering his or her options. Abby glanced at Hoagie, who was frowning indicating deep thought. Momo, perched on the boy's shoulder, was also silent and still. Kuki was biting her lip and staring at the ground while Nigel reproduced his bottle of painkillers. Wally seemed distant, seemingly unsure of everything. Vuyani's eyes were darting around; the only one of them who still had some kind of objective. Michael was also in thought while Natalie had regained her unimpressed persona. Michelle was smiling, still enjoying the view, using it as an excuse not to think. Henrietta lay tied up in the dust, smiling as well. She looked over at Abby and couldn't help but feel proud.

"Hand yourselves in," Vuyani said breaking the serenity, "you are all so damaged by this ordeal; decommissioning is a mercy for those who simply need to forget."

Hoagie laughed genuinely, "I wish it were that simple."

"I've seen them," Abby smiled, "ex-operatives, walking down the street. They look happy but any moron can see the emptiness. I'd take this pain over nothing at all any day."

Then they heard it, distant at first; the throbbing of helicopter blades slashing through the air. The noise surrounded them as they realized it was coming from two sides. A dark shape accompanied each, the one smaller than the other. Realization struck.

"That would be our ride," Abby said happily looking out at the larger shape.

"And that's ours," Nigel sighed, referring to the other.

Vuyani started moving towards Nigel but was stopped by a pistol to the face.

"Back off, cowboy," Kuki said threateningly.

"So the seven of you just fly off into the night?" Wally said shaking his head, "So much for happy endings."

"The world isn't about happy endings, Wally," Abby said, "well, not anymore."

"'Sides, you got Henrietta," Hoagie shrugged, "think of how proud everyone up on Moonbase will be."

"It still don't seem right," Wally frowned.

"Right and wrong are just like your happy endings," Natalie said simply, "fictional; it makes great TV, but has no relation to the real world."

Nigel and Kuki's helicopter arrived first, kicking up the sand and swirling it around the small group. It touched down and the door slid open. A small, balding man in his forties stepped out and marched up to Nigel.

"Mr. Uno," he said humbly, "my name is Sam Harrison, I have been sent to escort you to your new place of residence."

Nigel shook his hand firmly.

"Good man," he said.

Harrison noticed Kuki tucked under his arm.

"Will Miss…erm…"

"Sanban," Kuki smiled.

"Of course, will Ms. Sanban be joining us, sir?"

"Well considering that Kuki here is my personal advisor, I should think so," Nigel smiled.

"I see," Harrison said.

He turned to Hoagie, "Delightful Industries acknowledges your payment of your debt."

"But I didn't exactly…" Hoagie began to say.

"We have what we want," Harrison cut him off raising a hand, "and prefer not to keep loose ends. Mr. Uno, Ms. Sanban, this way please.

He scurried off towards the waiting helicopter.

Nigel and Kuki turned to face the rest of the group. Abby and Wally avoided eye contact and Hoagie and the others looked on expectantly.

"I'm not going to attempt to justify all this," Nigel sighed, "its wrong and I know it."

Kuki looked sheepishly at Wally.

"I'm sorry," she said simply.

"I'll wait for you," Wally said sternly, "and I am not just trying to be cheesy, I mean it."

Kuki nodded. After a moment Nigel thrust his hand out.

"One!" he said smiling broadly.

"No, Nigel," Abby said, her voice shaky.

The smiled evaporated.

"Right," he said sadly, retracting his hand, "I'm sorry things couldn't have turned out better."

The two then turned and began to walk towards the helicopter.

"Wait!" Michael called causing them to turn around, "I say, have you got room for two more?"

Nigel smiled again, "Of course!"

"Excellent!" Michael exclaimed turning to Abby, Hoagie and Michelle, "I thank you all for a wonderful adventure and whereas I would love to accompany you to wherever it is you may be going, I'm afraid we need to get back; someone has to document this!"

Natalie gave another one of her rare smiles, "I hope we can work together again some time in the future."

The two of them then walked up to meet Kuki and Nigel. As they all climbed on, Kuki tossed her pistol to Michelle. She and Wally shared one final look, then the door slid shut, and the chopper began to rise. Abby had to cover her face to protect it from the flying sand and when she moved her hand away, the helicopter was already a black blotch in the sky steadily getting smaller. Wally shut his eyes and turned away. That was it; Abby began to cry, burying her face in Hoagie's chest, dropping the gun she had been using to keep Wally and Vuyani at bay. Momo squeaked an objection, but sensing the girl's distress quieted down, while Michelle quickly snatched up the gun. Abby cried hard, her mournful sobs almost overpowering the sound of the approaching airship. Hoagie placed a hand on her back in an attempt to comfort, but he was too busy dealing with his own emotions, or lack there of; he wanted to feel sad; he had just lost two of his best friends for goodness sake! But he just didn't feel anything.

"You'll see them again," Michelle said smiling reassuringly, "I'd also give you a hug, but then no-one would be pointing a gun at them."

She jabbed her thumb at Wally and Vuyani. Vuyani scowled, making the three of them laugh. Wally just stared into space.

The airship was close enough now for everyone to see; it looked sort of like a privet jet, only difference was the helicopter propellers sticking out where the wings would have been. It touched down lightly, surprisingly more so than the helicopter. A door on the side swished open to reveal a tall redhead in a blue jumpsuit. She flashed a smile at the scene before her.

"Is this a bad time?" she asked playfully.

"Actually yes," Hoagie said, "you've interrupted our game of charades."

"You must be Hoagie," the girl laughed.

He gaze suddenly met the other redhead standing behind him. Her eyes widened.

"My god," she said, "its you."

Michelle looked confused, "Have we met?"

A look of realization flashed across the girl's face.

"My name is Julia," she said, changing the subject, "He sent me to collect the three of you, as arranged. May I see your bracelets?"

The three of them each produced their strange trinkets. Julia nodded.

"Perfect, let's roll."

She stopped.

"What about them?" she asked pointing at Wally, Vuyani and Henrietta.

"They'll be fine," Hoagie said, "there's a KND search party that will be sweeping through here in a few minutes."

"Well be better haul ass then, c'mon," Julia smiled.

Michelle, Abby and Hoagie, with Momo, backed up towards the craft slowly, keeping the pistol aimed at the two remaining KND operatives. Abby jumped on, followed by Michelle who passed the gun to Hoagie. He climbed on, smirking at Wally as the airship started to rise.

"Asta lavista," he said and turned around.

He smiled proudly at the three girls sitting in the cabin.

"We've done it," he said happily, "we ROCK!"

"Yeah," Abby smiled, rolling her eyes, "Now shut the door before you…"

A hand suddenly grasped the bottom of Hoagie's pant leg, pulling him from the craft. He fell forward, making a feeble grasp for the door handle.

"NO!" Abby screamed throwing herself at the opening and reaching for his hand, but she was too late.

Michelle grabbed her from behind and pulled her back, Abby thrashing to get free. Hoagie hit the sand hard, but before he could do anything he was being pulled to his feet and having his hands forced behind his back. Momo screeched in anger as he was pulled from the boy's shoulder and placed in a bag.

"Numbuh 2 of Sector V," Wally was saying, "You are under arrest for conspiracy to avoid decommissioning, a level five offence. At this point, for the archives, how do you plead?"

"Not guilty," Hoagie said gruffly.

Abby looked down to see as he was forced to his knees as Vuyani began barking into his communicator. Hoagie looked up at her and smiled, giving a wink. But Abby couldn't smile back, she couldn't even cry; she was too overcome by a sense of loss she had never felt before. Julia slid the door shut and sighed.

"So much for happy endings."

* * *

**A little shorter I know, but hey. There'll be one last chapter and then a Epilogue, all shall be cleared then.**

**But for now, a review would be nice. Really nice. Please?  
**

**Dark**Mike


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